Happy Birthday to Israel Idonije (November 17, 1980)
11/17/2009 at 7:18 AM
Israel was born on this day in Lagos Nigeria, and came to Brandon with his family Mother, Choice, Sister Praise, Brothers Emmanuel, and Rhema where his father, Henry started the Ministry called Street Love located on 10th Street.
He attended Vincent Massey High School where he was introduced to coach Kevin Grindly who encouraged him to join his team and play in the Canadian Football program which started in 1997.
When Izzy was in Grade 12, he joined the Manitoba Bison's, and later was drafted #17 by the Ottawa Renegades in the 2003 CFL Draft. While playing with the Bison's from 2000 to 2002 he managed sixteen Sacks, which is fourth time overall in Bison history. He helped his team to the 2001 Vanier Cup where they were defeated by the St. Mary Huskies.
Late in the 2003 season he joined the Chicago Bears as a practice squad player. On December 6th 2008 Idonije recorded 1.5 Sacks. In May of 2009, he re-signed with the Bears for two years for an estimated $7 million.
Source:
His Stats:
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/player.php?player_id=7037
His Foundation:
http://www.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=person%20finder&search_term=israel%20idonije&search_country=US&st=person%20finder&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Flrd.yahooapis.com%2F_ylc%3DX3oDMTVnYTI0Z2o1BF9TAzIwMjMxNTI3MDIEYXBwaWQDc1k3Wlo2clYzNEhSZm5ZdGVmcmkzRUx4VG5makpERG5QOWVKV1NGSkJHcTJ1V1dFa0xVdm5IYnNBeUNyVkd5Y2REVElUX2tlBGNsaWVudANib3NzBHNlcnZpY2UDQk9TUwRzbGsDdGl0bGUEc3JjcHZpZANwcDRBcm1LSWNyck5kdV80U3d0NFc2UFdXODV4c2tyX29QNEFCbnd2%2FSIG%3D112upo5gl%2F**http%253A%2F%2Fwww.israelidonije.org%2F§ion=weblink&wrt_id=227
Street Love Ministries
http://www.streetlove.ca/
Post Script: Did he gain enough votes to win Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete?