Meet the Kenyan who plays American football for Ksh. 35 million

                               Daniel Adongo at a training session.

“I was nervous, but I had an obligation to the team and my brothers here to perform,” Daniel Adongo, Africa’s only America’s National Football League (NFL) player, says of his first-ever match on American soil.

The journey of the 25-year-old Kenyan sports all-rounder began in Westlands on Waiyaki Way, where in the compound of an Old Catholic Missionary Complex stands Consolata. The compound hosts a nursery school where in the early 1990’s, the young, aggressive and talkative Daniel Adongo was molded.

“Dan is a staunch Catholic. In another world, he would have been a priest because he followed Church teachings strictly,” explains Beatrice Adongo, his mum.

When he was born, his grandpa Ondiek Chilo nicknamed him ‘Liech’ a Dholuo word for Elephant because he looked huge right from birth.

Younger brother to Leon Adongo – a former national 15’s rugby player - the two boys (Dan and Leon) fell in love with the sport at a tender age during their primary education.

Their dad Joseph Adongo was a man who was always on the move from continent to continent working in different fields. As such, Daniel would do his elementary education at London Street since his father worked as an area manager for an airline in the United Kingdom.

Dan looks up to his elder brother so much that he thinks Leon is the best sportsman ever.

“Whenever they are together, the two can chat all night. Unless I quarrel or force them to sleep, they chat past 4.00am in the morning,” his mum.

Leon was always top both at sports and class work. According to records obtained by The Nairobian, the two were great athletes during their high school days in Nairobi where they set various sporting records.

Former Kenya Rugby Sevens head coach Benjamin Ayimba spotted them at a tender age. Dan was at Strathmore and Leon at Makini School.

“People talk about him as a rugby person but he is an all rounded sportsman. While at Strathmore, he was the best at both track and field events. He set a record in high jump, and was a great sprinter who was always number one in 100m, 200m, 400m, shot put, and javelin.  He also played Basketball, Football and rugby,” says his father, Joe.

Both Joe and Betty are proud of their only children Dan and Leon and their grandmother-Agnes Omondi, who lives in the village of Samia in Funyula Constituency, Busia County spoils them, too.

“Even now that he is far away in the States, Dan still calls his grandmother more often than we do. He is also close to his maternal grandpa Hon Ondiek Chilo a retired politician who was among the first Senators in post independent Kenya,” adds Betty.

 Ayimba notes that Dan would have made a very good sprinter: “He is very quick boy and at the age of 16 he had great prospects of representing the country in 200 metres. I advised him to try it out. I have no doubt that he could also become a great Olympian.”

But no one thought that one day, he would don an American football shirt - not even his teacher and good friend Mr. Pike who mentored him at high school with the maxim, ‘If you want to be a good sportsman, you have to be intelligent and smart in class as well.’

Daniel Adongo has come a long way in a short time. The Colts discovered him when Hong Kong based agent Johnny Gbenda-Charles, now his manager, contacted the team. Little was known about Dan until July 2013 when, Colts general manager Ryan Grigson flew a South African rugby player to Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States of America to the surprise of fans and media.

From culture shock to weather hiccups, Dan has grown as a player, surpassing his coaches’ expectations day by day. At Colts, the young man from Samia kept pushing till his major break on December 3 when Coach Chuck Pagano promoted him to the active roster from the practice squad.

But most importantly Dan’s intellect and outgoing personality has won his teammates over. In September 2013, Colts Pagano Coach Chuck Pagano picked one of Dan’s tweets and read it out loud to the team.

 “Working tirelessly and relentlessly on my craft to unearth the diamond to be. The preparation determines the outcome. BTM,” wrote the Colts rookie outside linebacker whose days at Strathmore School saw him get crowned Sportsman of the year. BTM standing for Colts’ motto this season: ‘Building the Monster’

Johnny, his manager, says making the NFL from rugby at Strathmore can be compared to winning the gold medal at the Olympics; it is a culmination of sacrifice, hard work, determination and strategy.

“Try and visualise going into it (game). It’s an emotional game and there’s always adrenaline pumping but I need to be able to control it. I like calling it my on and off switch. Know when to switch it on and be as ruthless as the game demands then know when to be docile.” Adongo told ‘Sounds of the game’ on Colts website www.colts.com

Initially, there were mixed reactions among Kenyan rugby fans when news that Dan was switching from rugby to American football hit the airwaves. Some bloggers commenting on social media said his was a tall order. Others were angry that Dan had bitten the hand that fed him (rugby). But Dan doesn’t think that it was an act of betrayal but being able to face new challenges.

“I think what’s more realistic is being prepared to take that opportunity when it comes and grasp it hard, riding on the wave like it hasn’t been ridden before.

“My assignment is basically to penetrate and wreak havoc regardless of whether I make the tackle or not. It’s a team effort; one small thing leads to a great individual play by someone else, so we all benefit,” says Dan.

The fact that Dan moved from Rugby in Kenya to Rugby in South Africa, to Rugby in New Zealand, Back to South Africa for Super 15 and then the NFL is a progression of an athlete that looks to constantly to test the limits. The ruthless, competitive and cutthroat nature of the NFL is what his father attributes to unflinching commitment and hard work.

His manager says the Kenyan Government is at liberty to engage Dan through the relevant ministries to showcase Kenya every weekend in the biggest grossing viewership sport in the USA.

“That’s a massive platform in which we would like the Kenyan Government and departments to engage Dan to promote kids living active lives, enhancing elite sports development and athletic aspiration in young Kenyans,” says Jonny.

Dan’s parting shot? “In life, you take what is good and beneficial and sift out what you deem inconsequential and that’s how I take life in USA. It is fun here, but I miss my mentors, teachers, the priesthood and the graduating class of 2006 (my former classmates) of Strathmore School.”