Elijah Nkansah

Elijah Osei Sefah Nkansah (born December 28, 1994) is an American football offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Toledo.

Early life
Elijah Nkansah was born in 1994, the son of Amy Mason and Shadrack Nkansah, who married in 1992. Elijah's brother Isaiah was born in 1996. Shadrack came to America from Ghana in the late 1980s. Amy and Shadrack met at Anderson University in Indiana. Shadrack was a chemical engineer for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, and also ran marathons. Shadrack died of cancer in 2002 at age 37; he is buried in Ghana.

Elijah Nkansah played football at William Mason High School (Mason, Ohio) where he earned first-team all-league and second-team all-district honors as a senior. He was selected to play in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game. He graduated in 2013.

His brother Isaiah Nkansah has earned three varsity letters as a linebacker at Grand Valley State University through the 2018 season. Elijah and Isaiah also have another younger brother.

College career
Nkansah was a member of the Toledo Rockets football team for five seasons. He redshirted his freshman year, then played in 6 games as a reserve offensive lineman in 2014. He started at right tackle in both 2015 and 2016.

As a senior in 2017 he started in all 14 games at left tackle, and he was named first team All-MAC as the Rockets went 11-3 and won UT's first MAC Championship Game in over a decade. The Rockets played in the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, and Nkansah was chosen to play in the postseason College Gridiron Showcase in Addison, Texas.

He majored in Criminal Justice.

Tennessee Titans
Nkansah signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2018. He was cut by the Titans at the end of training camp.

Seattle Seahawks
Nkansah was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad on September 3, 2018. He was promoted to the team's active roster on December 22, 2018.

Nkansah, wearing #75, made his NFL debut on December 23, 2018 in a Seahawks' 38-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the next-to-last game of the regular season. He played a total of 8 snaps—7 on special teams and one on offense, during which his kick-out block helped Seahawks' running back Chris Carson score a touchdown.