Ovie Mughelli has had quite a journey. He was born in Boston to Nigerian parents, raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and currently resides in Baltimore, serving as a fullback for the Ravens. Ovie is one of the biggest fullbacks in the NFL and is known not only for his ability to pick up the blitz but, surprisingly, for his taste in fashion. But don't get it twisted, Ovie's no dumb jock. In addition to graduating pre-med from Wake Forest College, he's actually taken business classes at Harvard. In the midst of the intense practice schedule and bright lights, Ovie manages to keep a clear head and down-to-earth attitude and still finds time to give back to the local Maryland community. I caught up with Ovie and discussed his experiences growing up in the south, his football career, the NFL lifestyle and yes…his taste in fashion.

Soulstice: Your parents immigrated from Nigeria, how did that shape your experience growing up in Charleston, South Carolina?

Ovie Mughelli: Growing up in Charleston, it was fun, I mean, I enjoyed it. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts - and I grew up in New York. I went to elementary school in New York then I went to middle school in Texas and went to end of middle school and high school in South Carolina and I loved South Carolina. I remember in Texas it was terrible because it so small. All we had was one stoplight and you had to drive 20 minutes just to get to McDonalds. Charleston was fun, but it was definitely a culture shock. Very…southern [laughs]. I don't think it gets more southern than Charleston, South Carolina. I mean, all the issues that you assimilate with South Carolina as far as the racism and segregation…I didn't encounter that too much. I assume that's because my parents were considered upper-middle class by the time we got to Charleston. So I'm sure I would have been treated differently if I hadn't had parents with money, if I hadn't gone to a private school, if I wasn't the scholar athlete. But, uh, I didn't encounter too many problems with anything involving my race. I was the only African American in my grade, one of four in my high school, and that was including my older sister. But, overall, I think it was a positive experience for me.

Soulstice: Being a descendant of Nigerian parents, but having been born in Boston – do you tend to identify as African or African American or do you see a difference?

Ovie: Both, actually. I'm very, very proud of my African ancestry and whenever I hear anything dealing with Nigeria or any Nigerians doing big things I always claim that, you know, it's my people, my country. So, I have a lot of pride in my country. But, in the same breath, I consider myself an African-American because I was born here and I'm very proud of the United States of America and everything that was done here. And I appreciate a lot, you know, I've been over to Nigeria once and I've heard countless stories from my mother and father. Everything from, you know, women's rights to freedom of speech, to just being able to have an opportunity to do whatever you want and be whoever you want to be here in America. Well, you have some of those opportunities and some of those rights in Nigeria, but not really to the extent that we have them here. My parents, I mean, they've spent a lot of time trying to let us know how lucky we are and tried to instill in us an attitude of, you know, just to be grateful and thankful for everything we have. Because they have stories just like every other parent about walking to school in bare feet, about trying to wait in line to sign up to take classes. People wanted to go to school so bad and they'd wait in line and there'd be fights and they'd try to pay off people just to register to go to school. And we have the privilege of taking classes and going to school and learning and we don't even wanna, well at the time me, my brother and sister, we didn't wanna go to school or try our best. We would rather stay home, watch TV and play video games. So, they were very hard on us with school and, you know, grades. A stood for awesome and B stood for bad. Whereas most kids who got B's were patted on the back, we made B's and we were beaten sometimes. Not beaten, but we were chastised, really. So, it was a different rearing with our Nigerian parents as opposed to African American parents, I believe so.

Soulstice: That actually leads right into my next question. Your father is a doctor and your family obviously values education very highly. So what did your parents think of your decision to pursue sports professionally?

Ovie: They were actually not so much behind it at first. I started playing football in middle school, you know, sixth and seventh grade. And all my parents know is soccer, tennis, you know, they're big fans of basketball, Michael Jordon. But they never really got into football when they came to America. They thought it was brutish sport, something that, you know, big, strong, unintelligent oxen play. A gladiator sport that was pointless. So, when I told them my interest in a sport that they had so many problems with, it didn't go over well. Actually, they told this is fine as a hobby. And I said "this is not a hobby, I think I really like this and I'm really good at it." I was playing it in the back lot of the school and I had a lot of fun. I wanted to try to play organized football and see how it is. It took both my football coaches, it took my friends and it took a lot of begging from me to be allowed to play my first year of football. The deal was that my grades couldn't slip at all. They were looking for my grades to improve cuz my coach had told them "football will help him in school too." So when my coach told my parents that, they took it serious. I don't know about all that, but you know, it helps you with discipline and a couple of other things…responsibility. Once I got into football, and they let me see how it worked with my schedule, I did well. I had fun, but I always knew education was my priority cuz they told me every single day. I happen to just be a very good football player. And went from middle school to high school and from high school to college and from college, you know, to professional. And ever since they found that football could pay for school, they've loved it even more.

Soulstice: Yeah, I imagine so [laughs]. So, shifting gears a little bit, how do you like Baltimore?

Ovie: Baltimore's cool. It's raining right now, so it's not favorite place to be – I'd rather be in Miami, but you know. There's a lot worse places to be than in Baltimore…like uh Green Bay in Wisconsin, or like, in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, Baltimore's great. DC is so close, and New York is close too so there's always something to do just a couple hours away.

Soulstice: Being involved in the music industry and just watching the media in general, I know about how musicians live but you know, tell us about the lifestyle of a professional football player. Tell us how you livin'…

Ovie: How am I livin'? That's…[laughs]

Soulstice: That's an open question, you can answer that however you like…

Ovie: Yeah, I got you. I'm living the dream. I know a lot of people say that, but I really am living a dream. I feel blessed every day, you know, I wake up and go to work. Because, you know, I love the game of football. I grew to love it growing up and being able to just play for fun, without getting paid, without, you know, having hundreds of thousands of people watching on TV. I'd just do it for fun, it's something I enjoy. Quite honestly, it's something that I might do, even if I had a normal desk job. So I can do the same thing for a career and go out and get paid for it, I mean, you can't ask for much more than that. So, playing football, being able to have people be so…it's amazing like how fans are in the National Football League. I was at Lake Forest and we had great fans at Lake Forest, I'm not going to take away from that. But it was mostly a basketball school and we weren't known for football and we didn't get that much recognition football-wise. I'd never played in a huge stadium. I'd never had people stop me on the street and be so excited just to get my autograph or to have me speak with them. I'd never had any of that happen. So my rookie year, I was overwhelmed with how much people loved me just because I was a professional athlete. So, that took some getting used to. But mostly, it's a positive thing. There are some people that take it a little overboard…but for the most part it's very flattering how much people care about you and how much people want to be around you just because of what you do.

Soulstice: Right, and at the same you keep everything down to earth. You're actively involved in community service in Maryland. You're also a motivational speaker and work with underprivileged students. What drives you to be so active in community?

Ovie: That's probably my favorite part of the NFL. The fact that it's given me a platform, it's given me a stage to do things and to make changes and to make differences in people's lives where it would have been difficult for me to do otherwise. Yeah…I'd still do things like Big Brother / Big Sister if I wasn't in the National Football League, if I wasn't playing for the Baltimore Ravens, but the fact that I am gives my words and my actions so much more weight. People are so much more impressed that a football player in the NFL can, you know, take time out to come talk and tell them about education, tell them about being in school, tell them about, you know, not doing drugs…it just means so much more to them. The fact that people want to hear what I have to say, I want to use that to affect as many people in a positive way as I can, you know, young and old. I'm just excited about the possibilities and the potential that I have in the future…with all the projects I have. The possibilities are endless.

Soulstice: One more football-related question. How do you feel about professional athletes that use steroids to enhance performance? Have the pressures of professional sports ever pushed you in that direction?

Ovie: It's a tough thing, it depends on who you talk to what answer you'll get. I never took Creatine in college, I never was a big supplement-type person. I was lucky because, I don't know, my parents gave me natural talent. I didn't even work out until senior year of high school. You know, in middle school…my working out was watching TV and, you know, playing video games. That was my workout – work my thumbs out. I guess some people, if they want something bad enough, they'll do anything. You know, and anything includes steroids to get where they want to be. I don't think it's fair to themselves or to the people that are competing in that sport. Because it's not them, they're not doing, you know, those great things. They're not catching the ball, they're not knocking people down. It's the drugs that are doing it for them. So, I strongly am against and I think that anyone that does that should rethink what they're trying to do and why they would harm themselves just for some glory.

Soulstice: Shifting gears again…how did the get your reputation as one of the most fashionable players in the NFL?

Ovie: [Laughs] Oh, I didn't know I had that reputation!

Soulstice: Yeah, it's on your website yo!

Ovie: [Laughs] Oh, that's funny, that's funny. I'll have to tell my publicist about that, he's gonna get me in trouble. Naw, I have taken an interest in fashion and it's something that I would love to get into. Like, there's a lot that I love to do besides football. I don't want to speak for people in the NFL, but I know for me, football's just a stepping stone for things I want to do in life. I would like to at least try everything. Try, you know, just about everything. You know, I'm very adventurous person. I'm an intelligent person and I want to get involved in business, I want to at least try acting. I'd like to, you know, try getting into TV, I'd like to do some commentating. I'd like to do so many things with my life and just, like, football gives me a stage to have people interested in what I say, I want to use that to get people to understand who I really am. Let ‘em know that, you know, I'm much more than a guy who catches balls, runs balls, and knocks people over and, you know, help the Ravens win games. I'm a lot deeper than that. I graduated from Wake Forest. I was pre-med about to go into medical school. I acted in my high school play in theater. I played tennis in high school…

Soulstice: Even took some classes at Harvard, right?

Ovie: Yeah, I took some business classes at Harvard. I have a lot of different business ideas. I have a mortgage and title company right now that I'm working with. I'm very excited because it's my first venture outside of football that's bringing in money into our household that doesn't involve me having to break my neck, you know what I'm sayin'? I'm pretty excited about that but, you know, just meeting people, networking has been so much fun for me and I want to make sure that every Tuesday on my day off I try to do something that doesn't, you know, necessarily involve just football and allows me to branch out as far as what I can offer people. As far as fashion though, I might do some sports modeling in a couple of years. May do some stuff where I'm the spokesperson for Reebok or Nike. But I have a very soft spot in my heart for all fullbacks throughout the league because we're definitely the most under-valued and under-estimated positions on the field. So, uh, we don't get much love so we have to work twice as hard just to get somebody to recognize us as more than just some big dumb jock or just somebody that's a big bruiser with no intelligence.

Soulstice: You obviously have a variety of interests. Do you consider football as something transitional? Do you hope to transition out of football eventually, or are those other things just side projects?

Ovie: My main focus is definitely my football career, I love this game. Those are side projects, but like I said I want to have several things setup so that when I finish football, I won't be one of those guys looking for my next gig, you know, wondering what I'm going to do next. I want to have two or three things already set in place that I can transition into. But by no means is my mortgage company or wanting to do a little acting more important than football right now.

Soulstice: Are you a fan of hip hop music? If so, who are you listening to?

Ovie: I'm a big fan of hip hop music. I got Rick Ross, I got Ludacris, I got, uh, Young Dro, I got Jeezy, his last album. Who else do I have…I'm a big R&B fan too. I've got Beyonce's joints. I went to one of her concerts and came this close to meeting her, but the bodyguards wouldn't let get close enough to introduce myself. But, um, yeah I'm definitely a hip hop and R&B fan.

Soulstice: So, are you familiar with the local Baltimore and Maryland hip hop? If so, are you a fan of that as well?

Ovie: I'm actually familiar with the local Baltimore scene. I know in Baltimore and DC, Go-Go is very huge, I think the radio station is actually having the first annual Go-Go Awards. And you know, Go-Go and Club Music in Baltimore is definitely unique to the area and, you know, I like it. But I'm more of a mainstream hip hop type of listener.

Soulstice: Gotcha. You often share your mother's sentiment "You are not your own." What does that saying mean to you?

Ovie: "You are not your own" is something that I've spoken about a couple of times and something that I live my life after. Because it's a saying that my mom always told me when I was younger and used to never understand what it meant. But as I grew older, as I got more mature, as I went through several life experiences, good and bad, you know, I started to understand what she meant by that. And basically it's saying that everything that you are today, you know, good and bad, is because of the influences around you. Because, you know, your parents, your teachers, your coaches, your friends, and the choices you've made are all because of the influences around you. I didn't get to where I am today just off of myself, you know. I didn't live in some bubble and become who I am today without anybody influencing me. Like my mother spent so much time instilling, you know, values. My coaches spent so much time instilling in me, you know, character traits about never giving up, never quitting, always giving your best effort. And when I speak to young children I let them know that you can't be arrogant, you know? It's ridiculous to be arrogant and it's a slap in the face to anyone who's ever helped you out, you know, in your life. Because everything that you've become today is not because you're so great, people have helped you get there. And in the same respect, you should be careful about what you do and you should think about, you know, the decisions you make as far as, if you want to drink and drive, you know, you have to understand that you're not your own. There's people that are going to be affected by your decisions, good and bad. If you get in a car accident and get hurt then your family, your friends and all those close to you are going to be devastated and you can't just think about yourself because again you're not your own. And that's something that's helped me stay on the straight and narrow path. I, you know, deviated sometimes, actually a couple times, throughout college, throughout my NFL career. But for the most part I try to live my life knowing that there are a lot of people counting on me and there are a lot of people looking up to me, you know, to see what I'm gonna do. So I try to make my decisions based on that.

Soulstice: Alright Ovie, I appreciate your time man. Do you have any last thoughts for our readers?

Ovie: Nope, just uh, I appreciate you giving me a phone call, letting me share my thoughts with you.