Praise Olatoke primed for NFL shot with LA Chargers as Scot desperate to prove 'small but mighty' theory

He’s a long way from Kinning Park but NFL-bound Praise Olatoke is intent on showing the world Scotland may be “small but we’re still mighty” .

And he’s ready to do his bit restoring some national pride on sport’s big stage after a miserable Euros campaign for those performing with another football. Born in Nigeria, raised in Scotland from the age of five, Olatoke’s primed for his shot after the Los Angeles Chargers nabbed the runner turned wide receiver. His involvement in the NFL’s international pathway programme, along with former Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, paved the way for a life-changing opportunity Stateside.

But the underdog status the 24-year-old, whose family still live here, relished performing for Scotland as a sprinter is the same one he’ll tap into in the hunt for touchdowns. A former Scottish Under-20 athlete of the year running track with Kilbarchan AAC only five years ago, he said: “I’ve had a ton of folk from Scotland, people from primary school, high school ‘Hey we saw this…’. That’s been sick.

“I'm going back to Scotland in a week-and-a-half so I am going to be able to see a bunch of people and show love. Especially on the world stage Scotland is known but it is not really known.

“‘Oh Scotland is that pretty country with the golf’. But there is so much untapped potential in Scotland so I am a product of that. From Cardonald Primary School where I learned how to properly speak English... St Columba’s (in Kilmacolm).

“I grew up and I learned how to be myself in Scotland. The saying that people make Scotland – those people in Scotland were the people who made me.

“I have seen how powerful Scotland can be... there is so much raw energy and passion and gravitas that can come from Scotland. That is