Why former NFL player Daniel Adongo was deported from US
Sports
By
Mate Tongola
| Jul 26, 2026
Former National Football League (NFL) player Daniel Ogama Adongo has been deported from the United States after immigration authorities cited a visa overstay and a criminal record.
Adongo, a 37-year-old Kenyan and former linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, was removed from the US on June 20 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Chicago, according to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The deportation followed a March 23 removal order issued by a Department of Justice immigration judge.
According to ICE, Adongo overstayed his visa in 2016, a year after his NFL career ended, and remained in the country for nearly a decade before his arrest.
Federal authorities said he was detained under the Laken Riley Act, legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump last year, which requires undocumented immigrants convicted of certain crimes to be detained without bond.
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Court records cited by ICE show Adongo was convicted of criminal mischief causing property damage in 2020 and sentenced to 364 days in jail.
The agency also said he had been arrested several times in Indiana over the past decade on allegations including felony intimidation, battery and disorderly conduct. However, some of those charges were later dismissed by the courts.
"This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he's been removed," ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson said in a statement.
Thompson added that US immigration laws are enforced equally against all violators, "including former professional athletes."
Adongo made history in 2013 as the first Kenyan to play in the NFL after being recruited from professional rugby by the Indianapolis Colts despite having no prior experience in American football.
He spent two seasons with the Colts before being released in 2015, featuring in a handful of games primarily on special teams.
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