#NFLREMARKABLEDEBUT
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merican football (NFL) has finally found new fans in Kenya. Well;
Kenya has its first son of the soil playing for the Indianapolis Colts. Yes,
twenty-four year old Daniel Adongo-he who made a shift from rugby to the NFL
(US National Football League).
With the change; Adongo had to work out the lingo and
nuances of the sport; learn the proper way to put on pads and a helmet and know
his place in the colts’ locker room.
But even as he adjusts and starts to feel comfortable;
there’s still more work to do; but the newly minted linebacker will get to show
the American football world how far he’s come in just a few months.
The AP (Associated Press) reports that it was late July last
year when general manger Ryan Grison decided to take the plunge after a
yearlong quest to find an overseas player who could help his team. Grison
gambled on Adongo; a Kenyan rugby player who was big; fast and had a penchant
for hitting.
Adongo surprised initially by the invite; made the flight to
Atlanta; then hopped on a connecting plane to Indy and worked out at the Colts’
headquarters during a rookie mini-camp. Within hours; the Colts signed Adongo
to a contract and two days later; the 6-foot 5, (1.96m, 117kg) American Football
novice stood out When he reported to training camp in a pair of short-shorts and football-style
shirt.
Daniel Adongo has played for Kenya’s under-18 and u-19 rugby
squads. In 2006, scouts from the University of South Africa spotted Adongo
during a tournament and a year later; he was attending the school. Then I t was
off to Sharks Academy. He’s competed in second-tier club championship in South Africa
and New Zealand since 2010; and made his super-rugby debut in 2013 with
Southern Kings.
However, the widely praised Adongo; it emerges that he will
be earning “peanuts,” $405,000 (sh 34.4 million) in basic salary compared to
other team members.
But even that isn’t putting him down. In an interview
recently on Citizen-TV and later on; on Churchill Show; Adongo added that he
knew the spotlight was now on him and with few doubters left-many wait to see
if he will cut it in the NFL.
>BY EMBUKANE VINCENT LIBOSSO.
