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Villanova's Tanoh Kpassagnon, picked by the Chiefs, makes his mom proud

Winifred Wafwoyo wanted her son to excel in academics, but is pleased he has been drafted to play in the NFL

WINIFRED WAFWOYO, who came to this country from Uganda, had big dreams for her son, Tanoh Kpassagnon. Yet they had nothing to do with football. With a doctorate in food science, she is a chemist for a pharmaceutical company. So . . .

"I really wanted him to be the best he can be, in whatever he chooses," she said earlier this week. "But football was never in my plans. For me, it was always academics. I didn't care if he was a scientist or an artist. It didn't matter. I just wanted him to be very good at it.

"I didn't grow up here, and, as a single mom, I never understood football. I just thought it was a dangerous game. That's the first thing that went through my head. But he went to visit a friend in North Carolina who played flag football. I was like, 'OK, he'll get fed up very quickly.' But he wanted to play. When I started dropping him off, what I saw was even rougher than I'd expected. I didn't think he'd last long. But it's been ever since."

And on Friday night the 6-7, 290-pound defensive lineman from Villanova (and Wissahickon High) was taken in the second round of the NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 59th pick. He is the first Wildcat to get selected since offensive lineman Ben Ijalana went to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 49 in 2011. He's now with the Jets.

And didn't Andy Reid take another Wildcat in the third round in 2002 when he was here who turned out pretty good?

"They actually called me when the team was picking before them," Kpassagnon said. "They just said to be ready to play some football. I can't wait to get started."

Speaking of which . . .

"The waiting was probably the hardest part," he said. "You get a little anxious. You just want it to be your name next."

So what does his mom - who sent him to a Future Business Leaders of America conference in Florida the summer before his senior year at Wissachickon that almost caused him to miss Villanova's camp - think now?

"I actually started to look at it differently when Villanova offered him a scholarship, because I didn't know he was that good," she recalled. "I told him he didn't have to take a football scholarship. My thing was an academic scholarship. He told me the offers he had for from different organizations didn't amount to too much. He basically said he would have to work at McDonald's to pay for college. That's when it hit me. But that's what I knew. I just thought if you wanted a better life it had to be through academics."

Kpassagnon can have that, too, whenever football is over. He has two degrees, in accounting and finance. So he probably will never have to flip hamburgers.

"I hope so," Wafwoyo said, laughing. "Maybe he can be a CEO or something like that."

First he's going to try playing for pay. That's not a bad dream, either. He waited for his name to be called with her and first-year coach Mark Ferrante at his Ambler home. As it should have been. It's their story.

"As an adult, and a mom, I know he's just one injury away from not playing," she cautioned. "That is not something you can plan for. However, injured or not, if you know how to do something you can always still do that.

"I had no idea what this would be like. Whatever happens, he has done his best. He practices every day. Or trains, rather. So I'm very excited for him. I know how hard he's worked. That's all I ever asked."

Added Ferrante, who five years ago as an assistant offered Kpassagnon a free ride the first time he saw him: "He's earned this. I know he wanted the Eagles. That's his team. But there's some Eagles flair out there.

"No matter where he went, he was going to do well. They're fortunate to have him."

kernm@phillynews.com

@mikekerndn