AUSTIN, Texas — Ochaun Mathis started playing football in middle school despite it not being the sport his mom was hoping he would try.

“I wanted him to play basketball to be honest,” says Ochana Mathis, Ochaun’s mother. “But he chose his own path, and I knew then, when he started having his own mindset, it was something different.”

“I came to Manor, never stepped a foot on a football field,” says Ochaun. “7th grade, that was my first year playing sports and it was definitely one of the first tiers building who I am today.”

Ochana says Ochaun was a short, skinny, frail little boy when he first started playing football. In high school, though, he hit a growth spurt, became a force at defensive end and suddenly was being looked at by colleges. Having a future as an athlete was becoming a reality.

“What these sports can take me and what my athletic ability is,” says Ochaun. “Where it could take me in the future and brought me to this point today.”

After graduating from Manor High School, Ochaun signed a scholarship to play football at TCU. He spent four years with the Horned Frogs and led the Big 12 in sacks in 2020. After the 2021 season, he entered the transfer portal and signed with Nebraska. After one season with the Cornhuskers, Mathis declared for the NFL Draft. He spent his draft weekend back in Austin a few weeks ago with family and close friends, anxiously awaiting his name to be called.

“It was a lot of nerve-wracking, hysterical feelings we were getting overall,” says Ochaun. “It was a lot of different types of emotions.”

“I had to step aside and have a talk with my son and reassure him that you are going to be called,” says Ochana. “Today is your day.”

Finally, in the sixth round of the draft, Ochaun got the call from the Los Angeles Rams they were about to pick him.

“As soon as I got that call I was extremely happy, hysterical at that point where I was crying and hugging family members,” says Ochaun. “It was definitely something to remember for the rest of my life.”

“When he got that call it was surreal, it’s still surreal,” says Ochana. “It was a sigh of relief because I knew that day was going to be his day.”

That day was special for the Mathis family, but Ochaun literally got his day a week later. The following Friday after the draft, he was honored with a pep rally at Manor High School and the city of Manor proclaimed Friday, May 5, 2023, as Ochaun Mathis day. 

“This is the very foundation of who I am today,” says Ochaun.

“This right here, I would never imagine my son being here,” says Ochana. “I always said make good grades, finish college. He did that and said, ‘Mom, I’m going up.’ He kept going and this is what you get.”

Now Mathis begins a new journey in the NFL. He recently attended his first rookie mini-camp with the Rams and has his sights set on success at the next level.

“Keep the mindset of being a rookie, the rookie player of the year, nothing less, nothing more,” says Ochaun. “Getting to the point where I can set my foundation in that team and in the league. Keeping that same mindset of doing what I’ve been doing because it’s been working, but just crank up the intensity a little bit because that’s what you need to bring to the NFL.”