Sam Acho

Samuel Onyedikachi Acho (born September 6, 1988) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player who is a football analyst on ESPN.

He played as a linebacker for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), and was vice president of the NFL Players Association.

Acho's seven sacks are the second most ever by a Cardinals rookie, trailing Simeon Rice's 12.5 in 1996.

During training camp, Acho competed to retain his role as a starting outside linebacker against O'Brien Schofield and Clark Haggans.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt named Acho and O'Brien Schofield the starting outside linebackers to begin the regular season, along with inside linebackers Daryl Washington and Paris Lenon.

As a sophomore in 2008, he recorded 15 tackles and three sacks.

As a junior in 2009, Acho started all 14 games and was named honorable mention All-Big 12 by The Associated Press after recording 55 tackles and eight sacks.

After his senior season in 2010, Acho was voted team MVP.

Acho attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and performed all of the combine and positional drills.

On March 29, 2011, he participated at Texas' pro day, but chose to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Acho was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts.

He was ranked as the seventh best outside linebacker in the draft by DraftScout.com.

The Arizona Cardinals selected Acho in the fourth round (103rd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Acho was the 12th defensive end drafted in 2011.

On July 29, 2011, the Arizona Cardinals signed Acho to a four-year, $2.51 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $474,428.

Throughout training camp, Acho competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Clark Haggans and O'Brien Schofield.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt named Acho a backup outside linebacker to begin the regular season, behind Joey Porter, Clark Haggans, and O'Brien Schofield.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Arizona Cardinals' season-opener against the Carolina Panthers and made his first career regular season tackle in their 28–21 victory.

On October 23, 2011, Acho recorded two solo tackles and made his first career sack during a 32–20 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7.

Acho sacked Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a five-yard loss in the fourth quarter.

On October 30, 2011, Acho earned his first career start and recorded five combined tackles, a sack, and forced the first fumble of his career during a 30–27 loss at the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8.

Acho forced a fumble while sacking quarterback Joe Flacco for a ten-yard loss in the third quarter.

Acho remained the starting outside linebacker for the last ten games of the season after Joey Porter was placed on injured reserve due to a knee injury.

In Week 10, he collected a season-high six solo tackles during a 21–17 win at the Philadelphia Eagles.

He finished his rookie season in 2011 with 40 combined tackles (35 solo), seven sacks, two pass deflections, and four forced fumbles in 16 games and ten starts.

Out of high school, Acho was rated the 6th best football prospect at his position (weak side defensive end) in the country, despite playing for a small boys school that is better known for its academics (one rating service concluded his school was the best 12-year private school in the country and the best science-oriented school—public or private—in the state).

Acho played defensive end in college.

As a freshman at the University of Texas, Acho played in 11 games, recording six tackles and a sack.

On October 21, 2012 Acho recorded four combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career interception during a 21–14 loss at the Minnesota Vikings.

Acho made his first career interception off a pass by Vikings' quarterback Christian Ponder, that was originally intended for running back Adrian Peterson, in the second quarter.

In the 1.6 lb discus, Acho is 3rd all time at St. Mark's (162' 3) while his brother Emmanuel is first (177'3).

During his senior year on the basketball team, Acho averaged 12 points and 15 rebounds per game.

As of 2018, Sam Acho still holds the school record in the 12 pound shot put (57'9.25, while his brother Emmanuel is 2nd all time at 57'4.25).

He is the author of Let the World See You: How to Be Real in a World Full of Fakes, which was published in late 2020.

Acho played college football for the Texas Longhorns, started at linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals and on special teams for the Chicago Bears, and has won multiple awards related to leadership and scholarship.

Acho was born in Dallas, Texas.

He graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas, where he was on the academic honor roll during each of his 4 years of high school.

Acho was named to the all conference football team during his last 3 years of high school.

He was named team co-captain for both his junior and senior years.

He was also the state private school champion in both the shot put and discus.