Southern exposure: Saints’ David Onyemata makes American debut

11:11 PM ET

METAIRIE, La. — David Onyemata isn’t acting much like an international celebrity.

Sure, his remarkable leap to the NFL is a big deal back in his native Nigeria. And it made national news in Canada when the New Orleans Saints drafted him in the fourth round out of the University of Manitoba, just five years after he first touched a football.

But for now, Onyemata is just trying to find his footing like all of the other rookies who made their debut in this past weekend’s rookie minicamp.

“I’m still in the process of trying to make a name for myself. So (I’m not embracing the attention) right now,” Onyemata said. “Maybe when I get there or maybe once I’m done with my career and I’ve done all the things I have planned.”

Onyemata said he has heard stories about kids in Canada being inspired by his unlikely rise to the NFL, but he hasn’t been flooded with calls from Nigerian journalists or anything like that. The texts home with mom and dad in Nigeria are the usual, “How’s it going?” conversations.

“There is a big difference (from the Canadian game). We have like an extra guy and 1 yard off the ball, but I’m still learning,” David Onyemata said. Mike Carlson/Getty Images

And the answers to those questions include the usual highs and lows for a rookie making the leap from a small school.

Onyemata struggled with the heat on a particularly sweltering New Orleans afternoon on Friday, as he experienced some cramping.

He was able to laugh about it the next day, though. And Saints coach Sean Payton let him off the hook by saying that Onyemata was traveling from farther north than anyone else there.

Otherwise, Payton said …

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