Robert Nkemdiche apparently has the strongest handshake ever
May 4, 2016, 8:15 PM | Updated: May 5, 2016, 5:11 pm
Mississippi's Robert Nkemdiche shakes hands with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the Arizona Cardinals as the 29th pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL football draft, Thursday, April 28, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Cardinals rookie defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has it all.
At 6-foot-4 and 294 pounds, he has the moves to beat double-teams and the speed to run down quarterbacks with ease. When it comes to his strength, there are few doubts he’s physically ready to contribute for Arizona — now.
And then there’s the cold, hard proof that Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough dropped Wednesday during the Big Red Rage show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
“Have we talked about his handshake yet?” McDonough asked. “Forget about the athletic ability, the guy breaks your hand when he shakes it. I guess there’s a nerve that runs from your wrist all the way up your forearm into your elbow. I have something wrong with it because he’s gripped my hand twice and it’s shot like a bolt up my arm.
“I give him the old 2015-16 fist-bump when I see him,” McDonough added. “He has real power in his hands.”
Alas, this got us to wondering how real of a thing this was.
Though the image atop this article is a split-second in time — and maybe not the most attractive one — of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shaking Nkemdiche’s hand during the NFL Draft last week, it makes us believe Roger wasn’t exactly comfortable shaking the defensive tackle’s hand.
For more evidence, to the ole’ Twitter machine we went. There we found that, yes, there is a long history of Nkemdiche being overly-aggressive with his handshakes.
We present these to you in chronological order with the first noted strong handshake by Nkemdiche coming in 2011.
Strongest handshake ever. RT @JNewbergESPN @CoreyLong Robert Nkemdiche about broke my hand at Athens Nike Camp. Talk about strong.
— Kipp Adams (@KippLAdams) May 25, 2011
hand was just shattered by a robert nkemdiche handshake
— LOS LONELY DUDE (@cash4title) January 26, 2013
Robert Nkemdiche is one #large #powerful dude. With a #crushing handshake. #OleMissmediaDay pic.twitter.com/7rnEVKzGgq
— Matt Stark (@TheMattStark) August 1, 2014
Breaking: Robert Nkemdiche has the Adrian Peterson death grip handshake
— Eddie Borsilli (@Borsilli) April 27, 2016
Rob Nkemdiche once knocked the wind out of both @ChrisKalohn and I with a handshake
He was 17
— Phil Murphy (@Phil_Sports) April 29, 2016
What does this mean? If handshake power equates to bullying through offensive linemen, then the Cardinals picked a good one.
