LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Police arrested a former Purdue football player who spent ten seasons in the NFL after he was accused of attacking a neighbor in a dispute over video games.
According to the Lafayette Police Department, officers took 46-year-old Chikezie “Chike” Okeafor into custody after being called to a home on Chardonnay Court around 9:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Okeafor’s neighbor reported that Okeafor entered his home “without permission” to confront the neighbor’s son about a video game he’d been playing online with Okeafor’s son.
The neighbor disagreed with Okeafor and asked him to leave the house, police said. Okeafor then “physically attacked” his 39-year-old neighbor; family members had to break up the altercation.
Police arrested Okeafor on charges of battery with injury and residential entry. He was booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail.
Okeafor starred at West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School before playing at Purdue University. He was a two-time second-team All-Big Ten selection and a Butkus Award nominee as the nation’s top linebacker.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller suspended Okeafor for the 1997 season, citing “conduct detrimental to the team.” He was reinstated for the 1998 season, his senior year.
The San Francisco 49ers picked Okeafor in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with the 49ers before signing with Seattle, where he played for two seasons. He spent his final four NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and was out of the league by 2010.
