Amobi Okoye made a remarkable recovery from a serious illness that halted his NFL career in 2013 and was able to earn a spot on the Cowboys roster last offseason, but his time in Dallas has come to an end without Okoye making it back into an NFL game.
The Cowboys announced that they have released Okoye, who spent all of last season on the non-football illness list after joining the team in early August.
Okoye was diagnosed with anti-NMDA encephalitis in March 2013 after he began having seizures that led him to be placed in a medically-induced coma. He lost 78 pounds as a result of the illness and had to relearn many of the daily activities most people consider second nature as part of his recovery.
The defensive tackle was a first-round pick by the Texans in 2007 and was a member of the Bears before his illness forced him off of the football field. It would make a nice final chapter to the story if Okoye winds up making it back to the field, but the fact that he’s alive and well would also be happy ending enough given what he went through a couple of years ago.
