# Dare Ogunbowale

Oluwadare Ogunbowale (born May 4, 1994) is an American professional football running back for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin where he began his career as a walk-on. Ogunbowale signed initially with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

## College career

Ogunbowale walked onto the Wisconsin football team as a cornerback. He eventually switched to running back and racked up over 2,000 total yards and 15 total touchdowns. He was voted team captain his senior year. Following a game against Nebraska in 2014, Ogunbowale was featured in Sports Illustrated due to an error; the magazine editors mistook a photo of Ogunbowale for teammate Melvin Gordon.

### College statistics

| Season | Season | GP | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2013 | Wisconsin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Wisconsin | 11 | 34 | 193 | 5.7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Wisconsin | 13 | 194 | 819 | 4.2 | 7 | 36 | 299 | 8.3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Wisconsin | 14 | 91 | 506 | 5.6 | 5 | 24 | 208 | 8.7 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 319 | 1,518 | 4.8 | 13 | 60 | 507 | 8.5 | 2 |

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic |
| 5 ft 10+3⁄4 in (1.80 m) | 213 lb (97 kg) | 31+3⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.62 s | 1.60 s | 2.60 s | 4.21 s | 6.99 s | 35 in (0.89 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 14 reps | 36 |
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day |||||||||||||

### Houston Texans (first stint)

Ogunbowale was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2017. He was waived on September 2, and was re-signed to the Texans' practice squad the next day. Ogunbowale was released on October 6.

### Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first stint)

On November 29, 2017, Ogunbowale was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad. He was released by the Buccaneers on December 6.

### Washington Redskins

On December 12, 2017, Ogunbowale was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22, before being waived on March 6, 2018.

### Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

On August 2, 2018, Ogunbowale signed with the Buccaneers. He was waived on September 1, and was re-signed to the practice squad. On October 17, Ogunbowale was released from the Buccaneers practice squad. He was re-signed on October 31. Ogunbowale was promoted to the active roster on November 13. He was waived on November 30, and re-signed to the practice squad. Ogunbowale signed a reserve/future contract with the Buccaneers on December 31.
In the 2019 season, Ogunbowale was voted to be a team captain and finished with 35 receptions for 286 receiving yards to go along with 11 carries for 17 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
On September 5, 2020, Ogunbowale was waived by the Buccaneers.

### Jacksonville Jaguars

On September 10, 2020, Ogunbowale signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He re-signed with the Jaguars as an exclusive-rights free agent on April 19, 2021.

### Houston Texans (second stint)

On March 23, 2022, Ogunbowale signed a two-year $3.3 million deal with the Texans. On November 5, 2023, in a game against the Buccaneers, Ogunbowale was pressed into action as the Texans emergency placekicker after an injury to starting kicker Kaʻimi Fairbairn. In the fourth quarter, he became the first non-kicker to make a field goal in a regular season game since Wes Welker did so in 2004.
On April 22, 2024, the Texans re-signed Ogunbowale. In Week 4, Ogunbowale scored the game-winning touchdown in a 24–20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On March 5, 2025, Ogunbowale re-signed with the Texans on a one-year, $2 million deal.

## Personal life

Ogunbowale was born in the United States to parents who immigrated from Nigeria. He attended Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was a four sport athlete - football, soccer, basketball and track. Ogunbowale's younger sister Arike is a professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA.