When Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was traveling in New York in March, he logged in to an application portal to check on his status. That's when he saw the word "Congratulations!"
After applying in December 2025, Owusu-Koramoah has officially been accepted into the Harvard Kennedy School to pursue a master's degree in public policy. He will begin classes in the fall of 2026.
As part of his application to the Harvard Kennedy School, Owusu-Koramoah wrote an essay to answer the prompt titled "The Adversity Essay." He shared the following excerpt from that essay:
On October 27, 2024, in the second half of the game against the Baltimore Ravens, I took an unusual angle to stop the long run. The tackle succeeded, but the impact wrenched my neck sharply backward. Suddenly, head to toe, I went paralyzed. As I lay on the field, unable to move, my thought was only, 'Please God, let me get up.' My season trajectory was aimed to lead my team to a Super Bowl, and to break the Cleveland Browns' record for tackles for loss. In one hit, the pursuit disappeared. In the hospital, doctors told me that the injury would possibly be career ending. The fear was real, but instead of sinking into depression, I reflected on what had already been meaningful to me. Recovery forced me to face a question that I had long avoided. If football ends tomorrow, how then will I be defined? Through my community work off the field, I had mentored young people navigating uncertainty, helped families facing food insecurity, and built programs that gave youth structure and clarity. That reflection grounded me in the understanding that my purpose was never solely to become an NFL legend, but to uplift and empower people. Thus, the injury did not introduce this purpose, but it required me to choose it intentionally.
Seeing the official status of his application, he took a moment to express his gratitude before he shifted into planning on how to capitalize on this new opportunity that was in front of him.
As he continues to navigate his recovery from injury, Owusu-Koramoah is also focused on preparing for life beyond football as his future in football remains undetermined.
"There's so much to life," Owusu-Koramoah said. "And you know, football has a way of revealing what that life is all about. We spend day in and day out sacrificing time, energy, blood, sweat, tears. The discipline, the teamwork, the repetition, all of which are the fundamentals of life. During my injury, I wanted to remain active physically, but most importantly, mentally as well. The ultimate goal for me is to translate everything I've learned through football into a broader contribution to the world."
Owusu-Koramoah sustained a neck injury in Week 8 of the 2024 season and missed the remainder of the season after he was placed on injured reserve. He was then placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list in May 2025 and ruled out for the 2025 season. However, throughout different points of his recovery, Owusu-Koramoah has been around CrossCountry Mortgage Campus and with the team, and has stayed in communication with the linebacker room. He also returned to serve as the Dawg Pound Captain during Week 14 of the 2025 season.
As he has continued his recovery process from the injury both physically and mentally, Owusu-Koramoah has spent time researching and educating himself on the different facets of his neck injury. He has spoken with numerous doctors and specialists to hear their point of views on the possibility of returning to the field.
Owusu-Koramoah has also seen over a dozen specialists across the United States, as well as doctors, traditional herbalists and healers in Ghana to discuss all of his options.
"For my recovery, I have been resting and going through different treatments, whether it's soft tissue work, needling or other forms of therapy," he said. "But most importantly, I've been in deep conversation with specialists and physicians trying to understand the true risks of returning. It's not just whether I can play again; it's about understanding the cost of continuing and making a decision with one-hundred percent certainty."
As he considered the area of study he wanted to pursue with the master's program, Owusu-Koramoah pulled on his interests in economics, public policy and how decisions are made around the world.
He has built an interest in public policy through his own research. He read about the former president of Ghana Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's meeting with former President John F. Kennedy in 1961, which focused on the intersection of policy and the role African countries played in the United Nations in Africa, sparking an interest in how economics and trends shape public policy. He also took a Harvard business course for a week during the 2025 offseason, which centered around business, entertainment, music and sports taught by Professor Anita Elberse. That course sparked an interest for Owusu-Koramoah as they read case studies on policy regulations, particularly a study on the NFL and their TV marketing deals.
"That experience really sparked my curiosity about the political framework behind what I'm already a part of," he said. "I exist within sports and within community, yet I didn't fully understand how real decisions are made in either. That curiosity is what pushed me toward public policy."
As he contemplated avenues for his future, Owusu-Koramoah also reflected on an early intention he had when entering the NFL in 2021, and how he has continued to live out that set intention.
Over the course of his NFL career, Owusu-Koramoah has represented his Ghanaian heritage through his traditional African clothing worn to games. He also embraced an alkaline vegan diet early in his NFL career, all in an effort to fully represent himself in an authentic manner. As he pursues a master's degree, he wants to continue changing the narrative around athletes.
"To be able to create a new way of the athlete, a new thought process of what the athlete is," he said. "An athlete can be himself, whether that's wearing traditional clothing, embracing a plant-based lifestyle, or using a unique football technique that may be unorthodox. I wanted to challenge the idea that, for an athlete to perform, he has to separate his individuality and identity. He doesn't. He can still make an impact on the field and in the community."
Throughout his decision to apply and pursue a master's degree, the Browns have offered their full support. Owusu-Koramoah said he had conversations with Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry, Managing and Principal Partner Jimmy Haslam and run game coordinator/linebackers coach Jason Tarver about his recovery process and the next chapter of his career both on and off the field. Both Berry and Haslam each wrote a letter of recommendation for Owusu-Koramoah as part of the application process.
That support has extended beyond the Browns, as Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb also wrote a letter of recommendation for Owusu-Koramoah.
"They've always known me as someone who values learning," Owusu-Koramoah said. "In my conversations with Jimmy Haslam, he emphasized staying mentally active during recovery. That support meant a lot and really created space for me to explore opportunities like this."
Over his five years with the organization since he was first drafted in 2021, Haslam said they have watched Owusu-Koramoah grow both on the field as a player and off the field as an individual.
"I remember when he asked us to write the letter of recommendation being so impressed with the fact that after going through such a traumatic experience with the injury, he was thinking so high-level about his next move," Haslam said. "He was so gracious in the way he asked. He is a great representative for our organization and all our players. I doubt the letter of recommendation helped that much because JOK is an outstanding individual. He earned his entry into Harvard and will be a great addition to their community. I was honored that he asked us to write a letter on his behalf and I'm highly confident that he will accomplish so much off-the-field whenever his playing career concludes."
When Berry first heard Owusu-Koramoah aspired to attend graduate school and apply to Harvard, Berry wanted to do his part to help. Berry graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in computer science in four years. While at Harvard, Berry was a four-year starter as a cornerback and was a three-time All-Ivy League team selection and an All-America honoree.
"I always tell guys when they come into the organization that whether they're here for 10 minutes or 10 years, we want them to be better players and better people when they leave us," Berry said. "And that's how we certainly feel about Jeremiah, given everything that he did in the building, on the field, and then kind of the unfortunate circumstances with how his career has been a little bit on pause. So, when he mentioned that he wanted to go to graduate school and pursue a master's degree, and that he wanted to attend Harvard Kennedy School, that's an easy letter of recommendation to write. He is a lifelong Brown and he's a great ambassador for our organization, and anything that we can do to help him, we will."
Now with the backing of the Browns through Berry and Haslam, and the city of Cleveland – as well as his official acceptance into the program – Owusu-Koramoah is ready to take his next step.
"I believe this represents a shift in how the NFL views the relationship between the front office and its players," Owusu-Koramoah said. "The Cleveland Browns are the forerunners in that shift, showing that a player's value doesn't stop at his performance. To have an organization support both your recovery and your education while you're still part of the team speaks to a deeper level of character and commitment to our development. It challenges the traditional mindset that once you're injured, it's a business, so therefore you're replaceable. Instead, it shows that you're still seen, still valued, and still invested in, not just as a player, but as a man."
