Rene Konga

Early life

Konga was born on November 14, 2002, in Cameroon, before moving to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, when he was young. He initially played basketball before starting to play football at age 13. Konga played football at Colonel By Secondary School, earning league defensive MVP honors in 2019 while accounting for 21 offensive touchdowns. In high school, he was used at running back, defensive end, and placekicker. Konga initially planned to attend Clearwater Academy International in Florida in 2020, but instead reclassified to the class of 2020. A three-star prospect, he committed to play college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

College career

Konga redshirted as a true freshman at Rutgers in 2020, then posted one tackle in two games in 2021, followed by five tackles, a tackle-for-loss (TFL), a sack and two passes defended in nine games in 2022. He totaled eight tackles, two TFLs and a sack in 2023 before entering the NCAA transfer portal. Konga transferred to the Louisville Cardinals for the 2024 season. He posted 20 tackles, three TFLs and two sacks while starting six games in 2024. In his last year, 2025, Konga started all 12 games he appeared in and tallied 29 tackles, five TFLs, 1.5 sacks and six passes defended, earning second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors. In his college career, he posted 63 tackles, eight passes defended and six sacks while appearing in 44 games. Konga participated in The American Bowl and the 2026 Senior Bowl.