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Inside Access | Agbasimere's Journey Began Long Before He Arrived at Mizzou

Mizzou sophomore DL Franklin Agbasimere knows five languages. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, a land of more than 520 native languages, Agbasimere was immersed in the culture of his home country. Naturally, he learned to speak Patois, Igbo, Yoruba, French and English. And while he admittedly confesses that his French 'is a little rusty,' the hardest language he ever learned was football.

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Mizzou sophomore DL Franklin Agbasimere knows five languages. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, a land of more than 520 native languages, Agbasimere was immersed in the culture of his home country. Naturally, he learned to speak Patois, Igbo, Yoruba, French and English. And while he admittedly confesses that his French 'is a little rusty,' the hardest language he ever learned was football.

"I didn't even know what the rules were," Agbasimere said about learning the game. "I never even knew what a first down was or how to get it, or three-and-out, there is just too much going on."

As Agbasimere entered his senior season at Montverde Academy, playing college football was not on his horizon. He grew up playing basketball but was drawn to the physicality of football, only after he stumbled onto a game on accident.

"I thought a basketball game was on and instead of that, the Ravens game came on," Agbasimere said. "Ray Lewis was still on the Ravens then and I saw him come out with the whole celebration and the dance and stuff so I thought, let me just watch this for a minute. That was the first time I actually watched football."

But while many high school players in Florida were going through the recruiting process, Agbasimere was simply trying to figure out the simple things of football, like how to attain a first down. While his lack of knowledge of the game may have been alarming to some, Mizzou recognized his raw athleticism and saw how it could easily translate to the football field, thus he was offered a Division I scholarship to play football in the SEC after just one year of high school football.

"Now I have to use my power, in basketball you can't hit somebody without getting a foul called. It was too soft for me, so I went straight to defense," Agbasimere said.

Agbasimere came to Mizzou as a linebacker, flashing signs of freak athleticism throughout his high school tape. Speed and physicality were evident throughout and that skillset made it an easy decision for the Mizzou coaching staff to transition him to defensive end this season.

"He's just got a great feel for the game. He's just an outstanding athlete," Terry Beckner, Jr., said. "He's got all the tools to be a great football player."

As one might expect, the Agbasimere's skills do not stop at the football field. He is a tremendous student with the hopes of following his father into the world of international business. An economics major, he hopes to work in imports and exports following his football career.

But that will have to wait until Agbasimere is done terrorizing SEC offenses.