Olamide Zaccheaus’ path to the Eagles began with his mother, a Nigerian immigrant, and a domestic violence survivor

Olamide Zaccheaus’ mother was finally allowed to take him and his older brother to the playground.

Twenty years ago, Yimbra Mozimo watched her young boys as they bounced around a New Jersey preschool play area. They acted in a way she hadn’t seen before. The visual of her oldest son, Olawole, dancing to the music filling the yard and playfully lifting up his classmates is still with her. It was a level of joy and freedom that made the troubles of the last year feel further away than they were.

Mozimo had immigrated to the United States from Nigeria against improbable circumstances, but wound up in an abusive relationship that lasted for years. After a fight that she believed nearly killed her, and with the help of a strong support system, she left her marriage and went on to raise her sons by herself. For years, she worked two jobs from early in the morning to 11 o’clock at night to provide for them.

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The time eventually came when all of her decisions and sacrifices felt worth it, but it was long before Zaccheaus, a wide receiver the Eagles signed this offseason, showed promise on the football field.

Watching her sons on a playground, a place her ex-husband wouldn’t allow her to take them, resonates most.

“They were timid kids,” Mozimo recently told The Inquirer. “You would call them and they would shy away from you. We left the house and they are dancing, lifting kids, and playing around. It made me know that the decisions we make as parents really affect the lives of our children.”

Mozimo’s courage and work ethic are at the foundation of Zaccheaus’ football career. The 25-year-old is entering his fifth NFL season after going undrafted as an undersized wide receiver in 2019. Each step of the way, his mother’s influence is apparent.

“My mom just continued to handle different types of adversity,” Zaccheaus, who grew up in Camden County, said. “It’s been beautiful, it’s been great to see. Her development, her strength, and her faith never, never wavered.”

“I’m so grateful for my mom and her vision for us,” Zaccheaus added.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Mozimo laid plans to join her husband in New Jersey in the early 1990s. She had met her husband working at a bank in Nigeria and needed $100,000 naira (about $200 according to current exchange rates) for a three-month visit to him in the United States where he had moved. Mozimo took out a loan at the bank where she worked to pay for the trip.

She was initially turned away at the airport because the hairstyle in her passport photo didn’t match the braids she wore on her travel day. Crying in the customs office, she eventually got the benefit of the doubt after the shift supervisor looked over her passport.

A few months later, she won the green-card lottery. Most of the Nigerian immigrants she knew submitted dozens or hundreds of different names in hopes of increasing their odds, but Mozimo only submitted one.

“God, this is how you’re going to bless me,” Mozimo said at the time. “I just spoke it into fate.”

Mozimo gave birth to Olawole in 1995, his name translating to “my blessing has entered the home,” in the Yoruba language. When she was pregnant, her husband would drive her to and from her job packaging videotapes. The two had an arrangement where he’d handle all of the money, but she suggested she keep $50 from her check to save in preparation for their first child.

“He stopped the car on the road and he slapped me,” Mozimo said. “That was the first time I knew the kind of person I had gotten married to. After that slap, he didn’t stop.”

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Mozimo knew she needed to get out of the relationship, but she wanted her son to have a sibling. She had Olamide in 1997, his name translating to “my blessing has arrived.”

About a year and a half later, Mozimo reached a breaking point.

The abusive relationship resulted in multiple incidents over that time, but a fight that made her fear for her life was the final straw.

The results of the fight were a black eye, a bloodied face, and a bite mark on her back. Her husband strangled her until police officers started banging on their door.

“I was just thinking in my head, ‘So this is how I’m going to die,’” Mozimo said. “I thought, ‘Oh, God, who is going to take care of my children?’”

When she went to work the next day, her coworkers saw the bruises. They helped her find a domestic violence support system that aided her in laying the plans to escape her relationship without her husband knowing. He monitored her calls, so she had to use her colleagues’ phones to avoid tipping him off.

She struggled with memory loss in the months that followed and crashed her car on one occasion because of deliriousness. As she recovered, the support organization helped her find an apartment. Mozimo had a few cousins and family friends present for her move-out day, but her husband objected to her taking the kids until the police arrived.

Raising her kids solo would present its own challenges, but Mozimo looks back on that day with relief and gratitude.

“Staying there, some die in it,” Mozimo said of being in abusive relationships. “Thank God I’m still here to tell my story. Because I could have been dead.”

Zaccheaus remembers watching his brother open birthday presents one year and starting to cry.

He was about six years old at the time and didn’t understand why he didn’t get a gift of his own.

Mozimo sat both boys down and explained their situation as if she were talking to kids much older. She explained how tight finances were without steady child support and how hard she had to work for them to have the bare necessities. They never wanted for food or shelter, but anything extra was a challenge.

“I always sat them down and explained it to them,” Mozimo said. “They had to appreciate whatever I could offer.”

Zaccheaus added, “I was young, but I remember that. It stuck with me. It was like, I do see all the things that she’s doing and we were barely getting by at the time. ... Looking back at it now, I appreciate my mom for that, for being honest and being real.”

A young Zaccheaus also noticed the hours Mozimo logged at her two jobs. His mom would leave early in the morning and wouldn’t return until after the kids had fallen asleep.

She worked a full-time job as a computer operator in the evenings and did part-time data entry in the mornings. Mozimo describes herself as “not lazy,” although those close to her would characterize that as an understatement.

“Everything that she did was for us,” Zaccheaus said. “She rarely ever did things for herself. She did sometimes, but more times than not she’s working, doing everything to provide for us. Just the sacrifice in that, having that example in my face every day, it’s hard to not acknowledge that.

“She worked her [butt] off.”

Zaccheaus set out to be as “low-maintenance” as possible to help his mom. He didn’t ask for much, made sure to avoid low grades or trouble at school, and made a point of not being a picky eater.

“Whatever you make, I’ll eat,” Zaccheaus said of his mentality. “If I want to eat out, I’ll go to McDonald’s and get me a 20-piece nugget meal for $5.20. I’m good.”

Mozimo’s hours led to a string of babysitters for the two boys and them getting uprooted multiple times. She eventually found a family with three sons willing to watch them while she worked. Their new playmates went off to basketball and football practice each day after school, so their mother asked Mozimo if she wanted the Zaccheaus boys to join her sons at football practice.

Zaccheaus was hooked almost immediately and quickly became one of his team’s best players.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” Zaccheaus said. “It’s a beautiful thing. It’s just kind of a common theme throughout my life. Any situation isn’t good or bad, it just is. You just never know what that situation will bring you.”

When Zaccheaus visited St. Joe’s Prep, he didn’t try to sugarcoat things.

He’d piqued the interest of Gabe Infante, the Prep’s head coach at the time, as a remarkably fast, lanky, and versatile player on Haddon Heights’ middle-school team.

The interest was mutual for his mother, but the prospect of an all-boys school wasn’t as appealing for her teenage son.

“Olamide looked Coach Gabe straight in his eyes and said, ‘I don’t want to come to this school,’” Mozimo said, laughing. “It was right there I said, ‘Olamide, look, I’m your mother. I know what’s best for you. You might say that, but you’re coming to this school.’”

With the benefit of hindsight, Zaccheaus added, “It was the best decision she’s ever made.”

Things weren’t easy for Zaccheaus at the Prep early on. The coaches would pick him up for school or early-morning practice most days. Sometimes Mozimo would have to drag Zaccheaus out to Infante’s car when he was slow getting up.

Zaccheaus eventually became a two-way standout for the Hawks. He played alongside new Eagles running back and Mt. Airy native D’Andre Swift and won back-to-back state championships in 2013 and 2014.

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“He accepted the challenge,” said St. Joe’s head coach Tim Roken, who was the team’s offensive coordinator at the time. “He started being open to growth from an academic side and a development side. He started building relationships within the program and taking baby steps as a freshman and acclimating to a challenging atmosphere.”

He received several college offers by his senior year and eventually enrolled at the University of Virginia on a full ride. He still remembers the first offer he received from Temple, and the feeling that washed over him.

“I just remember gratitude,” Zaccheaus said. “That’s one of the most important words in my life. I just felt so grateful. And I knew how much it would mean to my mom, not having to worry financially about college.”

As an undrafted 5-foot-8 rookie trying to make the Atlanta Falcons’ roster, Zaccheaus drew on his mother’s story for motivation once again.

The sacrifices she made for his benefit, the faith she instilled in them, and her work ethic have all been instrumental in his career as a slot receiver and return specialist in the league.

“I’m never worried about anything because I do have that faith that my mom has,” Zaccheaus said.

“You build that confidence over time,” Zaccheaus added. “Once you have that unwavering positive self-image, the world is limitless.”

After posting career highs in catches (40), yards (533), and touchdowns (3) with Atlanta last season, Zaccheaus signed a one-year contract this offseason with the Eagles worth just over $1 million.

When Zaccheaus initially got word that the Eagles were interested in him, he didn’t tell his mom right away.

“I was waiting and hearing nothing,” Mozimo, who still lives in the area, said. “I was like, ‘What is going on?’ So I started calling him.”

Finally, Zaccheaus told her what to expect.

“I was like, ‘How could I argue with that? You’re going to be back here. You’re going to be close to me,’” Mozimo said.

Zaccheaus called the chance to play near home a “blessing.” His mom’s modesty dissuaded him from planning anything too elaborate for Mother’s Day, but he said the family has brunch plans.

After spending his childhood trying to make things as easy as possible for his mom, now she’s become the low-maintenance one.

“She’s very low maintenance,” Zaccheaus said. “So just a little brunch or something. Just spend time with her. Be with her.”