NFL: Lawrence Okoye signs for San Francisco 49ers, Jim Harbaugh impressed
By Paul Higham <i>Twitter: <a href=' http://bit.ly/e6TSqR' class='instorylink'>@SkySportsPaulH</a></i>
Monday 29 April 2013 15:04, UK
Image:Lawrence Okoye: First impression excites Harbaugh
Lawrence Okoye made an immediate impression on San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh despite never playing a down before being offered a contract with the Super Bowl runners-up.
Backing
Okoye himself said that Tomsula was a major factor in him deciding to go with the 49ers ahead of other interested teams, and he knows it is only the start of a long hard process.
"It's the team I felt wanted to do the most work with me," said Okoye. "Jim Tomsula has a great background in NFL Europe developing players without much background in the game.
"It's going to be a baptism of fire but that's part of the process. I don't set limits on myself. If I said when I was 18 that I was going to be in an Olympic final in two years I don't think anyone would have said I was serious.
"I realise it's going to be a ridiculously tough, tough process. It's going to be a fight every day and I am aware of the big possibility of being on the practice squad for however long they see fit. If I make it early or late it doesn't matter as long as I make it.
"I will have to work even harder than everyone else, I have a lot to catch up on. I know as much as I can without having played it but I am still an outsider looking in."
