Former Syracuse offensive lineman Omari Palmer is pursuing a career in professional wrestling. He uses the ring name Odyssey Jones and is part of the WWE NXT Breakout Tournament. Palmer/Jones defeated Andre Chase in the first round on Tuesday. According to his wrestling profile, he signed with WWE in 2019.
WWE NXT is a training ground for wrestlers to get used to competing on television. Essentially a minor league to the WWE.
Palmer played for Syracuse football from 2012 to 2016. He played in 36 total games during his career, including 24 starts. Palmer started the first three games of his senior season before suffering an injury that cost him the remainder of the year. He played guard and tackle at Syracuse, with most of his starts (21 of 24) coming at right tackle.
Palmer was part of the Syracuse program through two coaching changes. He committed as a high school recruit to Doug Marrone, but redshirted his one season under Marrone. Syracuse transitioned to Scott Shafer, and Palmer played for him for three seasons. When Shafer was let go and Babers hired, Palmer stuck with the Orange again. Unfortunately, he only lasted three games under Babers before getting hurt.
Now Palmer is looking for a professional career in wrestling.
More from his bio on prowrestling.fandom.com:
"During February 2019, Palmer was announced as having signed with WWE. He reported to the WWE Performance Center as part of the February class of recruits, including wrestlers Karen Q, Rachael Ellering, Albert Hardie Jr., Trevor Lee, Jeffrey "Jeff" Parker, Matt Lee, Sam Shaw, Nick Comoroto, Brendan Vink, Jermaine Haley and fellow former football player Ricardo Miller. Palmer wrestled his first match during a November 7 live event, losing to Dexter Lumis. He won his first match the following year during a March 16 live event, defeating Mohamed Fahim."
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