Professional Career
Uwaezuoke was originally selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round (160th overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft. He is credited with 60 NFL games, with 2 starts at wide receiver and 32 contests where he appeared as a featured punt returner. Uwaezuoke currently ranks 27th on the NFL All Time List for Average Yards per Punt Return in a Career 11.2. He also appears on five other NFL Leader boards for both single season and career records: Total Punt Return Yards for a Career, Punt Returns for a Touchdown in a Career, Punt Returns for a Touchdown in a Season, Average Yards per Punt Return in a Season (twice) '97 San Francisco and '00 Carolina. In 2000, He competed in 11 contests with the Carolina Panthers and finished the season with an NFL leading 17.3 yards per punt return.
Uwaezuoke left the NFL as the Carolina Panther organization's All Time Leader in Yards per Punt Return. In 1998, with the San Francisco 49ers, Uwaezuoke amassed a team leading 13 receptions in five Preseason games, including the American Bowl in British Columbia, Canada. Though seldom targeted, by November of that same year, his 22.3 yards per pass reception was tops on the 49ers club. In 1997, Uwaezuoke was the 10th ranked Punt Returner in the National Football League. His 696 total punt return yards currently ranks 237 on the NFL All Time List. A career Nike Football athlete (1996-2001), he was featured in the 1996 Impact Rookies trading card series by Skybox International, one of only 40 first year NFL players chosen to that distinction. In stints with the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins he saw both clubs reach the NFL Playoffs for the first time in multiple seasons.
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