Prince Amukamara is returning for another go-round with the Chicago Bears.
The veteran corner is expected to re-sign with the team once free agency officially begins, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Amukamara joined the team on a one-year deal during the 2017 off-season.
CB Prince Amukamara is close to a deal to return to the Bears, source says.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 14, 2018
Report: Chicago Bears Bringing Back Cornerback Prince Amukamara
Amukamara is a seven-year NFL veteran defensive back and is 28 years old. He was drafted 19th overall in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Nebraska by the New York Giants, and was the second defensive back off the board that year behind Patrick Peterson. Amukamara went on to win Super Bowl XLVI in his rookie season with the Giants against the New England Patriots.
After spending his first five seasons in New York, Amukamara played the next two seasons under one-year contracts – for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016, then with the Chicago Bears in 2017.
Amukamara has 358 total tackles, 58 passes deflected, seven interceptions and three forced fumbles in his career. For Chicago in 2017, he started 12 out of the 14 games he was active for, totaling 48 tackles and seven passes deflected.
Considered a three-star recruit out of Apollo High School in Glendale, AZ., Amukamara was a multi-event track star as well as a football standout on both offense and defense. His senior season in high school (2006) produced a stat line of 2,106 rushing yards along with 24 touchdowns as a running back, and 95 tackles along with two interceptions on the other side of the ball. He won “Big School Player of the Year” honors and was elected to the All-State team in Arizona that year as well.
Amukamara’s best college season was in 2010 where he was a unanimous All-American, First-Team All-Big 12, and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He originally intended on playing basketball and football at Nebraska, but decided to just stick with football after earning the backup defensive back spot his freshman year.
The track and field success that Amukamara displayed in high school shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to the family as his mother competed in track and field events for Nigeria in the 1984 Olympics. He is a descendant of royal bloodlines from Nigeria, where his grandfather was the king of Awo-Omamma in the Imo State.
