{{New Zealand based Counties-Manukau loose forward Daniel Adongo has made the leap from the NPC to the USA National Football League.}}<\/p>\n
The Indianapolis Colts announced they have signed the 23-year-old as an outside linebacker with the player becoming the first Kenyan to feature in American football\u2019s elite professional competition that has 32 teams.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an incredible transfer for a player who has just come off a season of Super Rugby with the Southern Kings in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Adongo first emerged in Kenyan age grade teams before being snapped up by the Natal Sharks academy then the Bulls Super Rugby squad in 2011.<\/p>\n
However, he was released early from that contract after being persuaded by Counties coach and former All Blacks international, Tana Umaga to try his hand in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Adongo played 13 matches for the Steelers in last years\u2019s NPC before heading back to South Africa to join the Kings.<\/p>\n
The addition of Adongo is all about potential. He\u2019s a 6-5, 257-pound outside linebacker prospect who most recently was with the Southern Kings of Super 15 Rugby, the world\u2019s highest level of pro rugby.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is not only an elite athlete and rising international rugby player, but he is an exceptional competitor and human being that has the right makeup for our sport,\u201d Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson said in a statement released by the team. \u201cWe all look forward to watching his growth and development in the ensuing weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adongo joins a loaded outside linebacker mix. It includes projected starters Robert Mathis and Erik Walden, first-round draft pick Bjoern Werner, Lawrence Sidbury, Monte Simmons, Justin Hickman, Quinton Spears and Caesar Rayford.<\/p>\n
The Colts generally carried only four outside linebackers on their active roster last season. Adongo\u2019s development might include a stint on the practice squad this season.<\/p>\n
Adongo, a 23-year old Kenyan national, is a 2006 graduate of Strathmore High School in Nairobi who attended the University of South Africa the following year.<\/p>\n
His rugby resume includes playing in the 2012 Varsity Cup for the University of Pretoria Tuks, the Vodacom Blue Bulls and the New Zealand ITM Cup team Counties Manukau.<\/p>\n
At 1.98m and 115kg he is well known for his muscular physique and is perfectly built for the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited as an organization with the acquisition of Daniel Adongo,\u201d Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said on the organisation\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
The announcement was even accompanied by an action shot of Adongo playing for the Steelers against Otago.<\/p>\n
capitalFm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{New Zealand based Counties-Manukau loose forward Daniel Adongo has made the leap from the NPC to the USA National Football League.}} The Indianapolis Colts announced they have signed the 23-year-old as an outside linebacker with the player becoming the first Kenyan to feature in American football\u2019s elite professional competition that has 32 teams. It\u2019s an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[99],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-9354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9354"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=9354"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=9354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}