The Huskies wide receiver Rome Odunze has mixed ethnicity. His father, James, is African-American, and his mother, Necia, has Caucasian roots.
Odunze also has an older sibling named Tyce, who unlike Rome doesn’t play football. The University of Hawaii’s Christian Vaughn is also his other brother.
After a stunning junior season in 2022, it was unsure whether Rome would return to Kalen DeBoer’s side. But after Michael Penix Jr announced his return, Rome committed to the side alongside seven other key contributors.
The 2023 season has been another year of success for Rome. He has recorded 87 receptions for 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns. Recently, Rome and his side won the Sugar Bowl against Texas, and now they are looking to beat Michigan.
On Monday, the Huskies will take on Michigan and look to become the Pac-12’s first national champion of the College Football Playoff era.
Washington Huskies Rome Odunze Ethnicity & Origin
Washington Huskies Rome Odunze has mixed ethnicity. His father, James Odunze, has African-American roots, and his mother, Necia Bunnell, comes from a Caucasian family.
The Huskies wide receiver hasn’t talked much about his family in detail in his previous interviews. During his conversation with The Seattle Times, Odunze shared that his parents would drive him 40 minutes both ways from Las Vegas to Henderson for practices.
But the conversation was mostly centered around Jack Warldon Rome’s pee-wee football coach. Odunze talked about Jack’s impact on him as a player growing up and how the two still have a special bond.
Rome grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated from Bishop Gorman High. At Bishop Gorman High, Rome recorded 121 receptions for 2,699 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Previously, in an interview with 247Sports, Rome shared that he knew how to milk a cow as his mother grew up on a farm. While he would visit the farms, Rome’s maternal grandparents would teach him to milk a cow.
Rome hasn’t featured his family much on his Instagram handle. But he has previously featured his girlfriend, Alannah Davidson, on his social media page.
Just like Rome, Alannah is a student at the University of Washington, and the two began dating in March 2021. Both went public with their relationship a year into their relationship and shared a celebratory post on their first anniversary.
Rome Odunze Parents
Rome Odunze parents, James Odunze and Necia Bunnell, might have separated. James isn’t very active on social media, but Necia is, and she hasn’t featured much of her husband on her social media pages.
Previously, when asked about the origin of his name, Rome said it was his father who gave him the name Rome. The wide receiver said his father, James, is a history buff and really liked the Roman empire. (proving the Roman empire theory that became a talked about subject last year on social media pages)
Rome said, “My pops just really liked the Roman empire, with some of the key, cool things within it, in how far and expanded in some of the things they do and some of the cultural influence they’ve had on the world.”
Rome’s mom, Necia Bunnell, is a graduate of the University of Utah. She has been working as a licensed realtor for the past eight years at Coldwell Banker Premier Realty Las Vegas.
On her Instagram page, Necia has shared several posts promoting her work as a realtor. Rome also has one older biological brother named Tyce Odunze.
But Tyce, 23, has kept himself out of the spotlight and has his Instagram handle on private. The only time we see him is on his mother’s Instagram page.
Though not clear, it looks like Rome’s mom, Necia, has adopted a child. On her Instagram page, Necia can be seen calling the University of Hawaii’s running back, Christian Vaughn, her son.
In 2020, Necia shared a post hinting that Christian was part of their family. She shared a series of images featuring Tyce, Rome, and Christian.
Necia captioned the post, “Happy Mother’s Day. Mothers come not only biologically but by influence and example. Happy Mother’s Day.”
On his Instagram page, Christian can also be seen sharing posts about Necia and his two brothers. Recently, he shared a family video featuring Necia and his two brothers.
