The beginning of the 2022 season seemed as if the Jets' offensive line had broken a bunch of mirrors, walked under more than a few ladders, and tripped over a herd of black cats who had crossed their path.
Pure bad luck.
Mekhi Becton fractured his kneecap during training camp and was sidelined for the season. Duane Brown was put on IR after suffering a shoulder injury during a Week 1 loss to Baltimore. And George Fant was also out because of a knee injury. In its first three games, New York allowed nine sacks and 39 quarterback pressures.
The Jets needed help and signed eighth-year veteran tackle Cedric Ogbuehi off of the Texans practice squad six days before their Week 4 game in Pittsburgh.
Selected by Cincinnati in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M, he was with the Bengals for four seasons before going on to spend time with Jacksonville, Seattle, Baltimore, Tennessee and Houston.
"I was excited, it was good to be playing again," Ogbuehi said. "(Jets head coach Robert Saleh told me) 'just come in, be a vet, and play.'"
Which he did.
Making his debut with the Green & White when they traveled to Denver in Week 7, Ogbuehi started at right tackle the following game against New England.
Still a starter in Week 12 against Chicago, he sustained a groin injury and joined the other O-linemen on IR for four games before being placed on the active roster for the final two games of the season.
Playing in seven games with five starts, Ogbuehi had 287 snaps on offense and 19 more on special teams. He'd re-sign the following season but would later be released.
"I think the locker room was a really good locker room. I'm still close with some of the guys now," Ogbuehi said. "And I think Robert Saleh was a hell of a coach, too. I actually had a good experience. (The Jet fans) have unwavering loyalty because obviously they haven't had much success, but it doesn't stop them."
What makes Ogbuehi most proud of his career?
"I think it taught me a lot. You learn lessons of how to handle different situations and how to let go of ego," he said. "And there's a lot of lessons that it teaches you for business. It taught me a lot of lessons of just things I can correlate to the business world and there's so many correlations.
"So that's why I really have no regrets because I wouldn't be doing the things I'm doing today if it wasn't for the adversity I faced."
Things Ogbuehi's doing today includes being the co-founder of the Earth Nail Spa and Nur Coffee Bar in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas.
"I have a friend who I met while I was playing, Onyi Odunukwe, and he owns Glo Tanning. It's the second-largest tanning salon in the country. There's over 200 in 35 states. He started that 15 years ago, and while I played, I became a franchisee of Glo," Ogbuehi said.
"And then two years ago, we had the idea for Earth Nail Spa. Kind of doing the same membership service that Glo has, and doing that in nails. So we built that, and then a year ago, we had the idea of the coffee shop and we built that. Both of them are really viral and it's just kind of cool seeing everything happening.
"We will have five new locations in the Dallas area for the coffee shop coming soon, and three more for the nails."
Besides Earth and Nur, Ogbuehi owns five Glo Tanning franchises in Texas and Oklahoma. He is seemingly hands-on with each of the businesses even though it's logistically impossible to be in each of them every day.
"I have that kind of oversight thing going on." Ogbuehi said. "Like right now, I'm building systems to make sure that once we do start the scaling, that obviously it can be replicated at different locations.
"Earth is a complicated business, so that's more so getting the staff right, making sure that if all else fails, that we make sure our guests feel the highest of hospitality."
Taking pride in the lessons learned from his NFL career which he has applied to his business ventures, what does Ogbuehi enjoy most about what he's doing?
"Just being able to stay a player as long as I played, and then having being able to transition the way I did, a lot of guys aren't as fortunate," he said. "The second phase of life is going to be a lot better than my football phase.
"And I also have another concept that I just bought into, it's called So Icy. It's a water ice business. It's my newest business. I'm going to tell my story more because I think it's a good story.
"The best thing is I control my freedom, I control my time, and I'm building something special. I'm being able to employ a lot of people. I'm being able to even give a lot of ownership, so it's just kind of a cool feeling."
