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Of the 12 players drafted since 1990 who attended non-North American high schools, 10 have been linemen. That includes DEs Ansah and Hunt, while Colts free agent signee Adongo will try to make it as a linebacker.
Daniel Adongo Kenya
EzekiEl Ansah Ghana
Margus Hunt Estonia
WORLD Wise
nfl teams are giving precious roster spots to INTERNATIONAL players— no football experience necessary. By Ryan McGee Throughout the preseason, everywhere Colts coach Chuck Pagano went, Daniel Adongo followed. A 6'5", 257-pound South African rugby-playerturned-linebacker, Adongo didn’t know a lick about football. As Pagano says: “First time ever putting on a helmet, No. 1. Then pants, No. 2. Shoulder pads, 3.” Longtime scout Jon Shaw had lobbied the Colts front office to invite Adongo to camp because of his raw athletic ability. Skeptics were silenced when the 23-yearold showed up, fresh off a plane from Johannesburg, and broad-jumped 11 feet,
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which would have been sixth best at this year’s combine. Not bad for someone who’d never broad-jumped before. Adongo ended up snagging one of Indianapolis’ eight practice-squad spots, despite not recording any preseason stats. “He’s a clean canvas,” says Colts linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald. Such canvases are popping up all over the NFL. A record 12 foreign-born players were selected in April’s draft, including Ghana native Ezekiel Ansah, whom the Lions picked No. 5, even though the defensive end started just nine games at
ESPN The Magazine 09/30/2013
BYU. Ansah is the most notable among five players who attended high school outside North America and have been drafted since 2012, compared with only seven such players in the previous 22 drafts. Cincinnati’s second-round pick this year, defensive end Margus Hunt, was a world-class discus/hammer/ shot put thrower in Estonia. He started playing football in 2009 at the suggestion of his track coach at SMU. A solid college career and a blazing combine 40 time (4.6, fifth fastest among all front-seven players) earned the 6'8", 280-pound Hunt a $1 million signing bonus from the Bengals. On HBO’s Hard Knocks, former Pro Bowl DE Greg Ellis told the newbie that he has the potential to become a $100 million player. “You might think a
situation with a guy who has so little experience would be complicated, but it’s not,” says SMU coach June Jones. The former NFL head man had no doubt Hunt could play in the league. “What you find is an eagerness to learn and a total absence of bad football habits to undo.” The Colts and other NFL franchises are just beginning to explore the next frontier in international scouting. Not long ago, at the behest of Indy GM Ryan Grigson, Shaw sifted through a pile of tapes that resembled the Wide World of Sports library. He was looking for obvious attributes among the athletes highlighted: size, speed, strength. Then he looked into factors like level of education and the ability to speak English. In the end, Shaw found Adongo. Others like him—talented players from the fringes—are sure to
follow because of their cheap price tags. If Adongo ever moves up from the practice squad, he’ll make the base rookie salary of $405,000. By comparison, the four 2013 draftees who attended non-North American high schools but went to U.S. colleges (Ansah, Hunt, Raiders OT Menelik Watson and Seahawks DT Jesse Williams) received contracts totaling $23.3 million guaranteed. Sure, a few busts could quickly turn a potential trend into a passing fad. But what if the international players, most of whom are D-linemen, start taking down QBs on a regular basis? “Then this group right here,” says an NFL scout, motioning to a row of colleagues at a college football game, “we’re gonna need to get our passports renewed and start down loading some Rosetta Stone.”
FROM LEFT: SCOTT BOEHM/AP IMAGES; JOE ROBBINS/AP IMAGES (2 )