A former Indianapolis Colts linebacker from Kenya, Daniel Ogama Adongo, has been deported from the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over an overstayed visa and alleged immigration violations.
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ICE, in a statement issued on Saturday, said the 37-year-old former NFL player was removed from the country on June 20, after he allegedly overstayed his visa in 2016, a year after his professional football career ended.
According to the agency, an immigration judge had ordered Adongo’s removal in late March.
Adongo, a former rugby player, made history in 2013 when he became the first Kenyan to play in the NFL after he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts.
ICE said Adongo had a history of arrests and cited a 2020 conviction for criminal mischief with damage, a misdemeanor, for which he was sentenced to 364 days in jail. Court records reportedly showed that, with credit for time served, he was ultimately ordered to serve six months in county jail.
The agency also said he had faced other charges, including felony intimidation, battery and disorderly conduct, although court records reportedly showed those charges were dismissed.
ICE further stated that Adongo’s most recent charges fell under the Laken Riley Act, which requires the agency to detain undocumented immigrants arrested on suspicion of, charged with, or convicted of certain offences, including burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. The agency did not specify which charges applied under the law.
ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson described Adongo as a threat to the community and said his removal showed that immigration laws apply equally to all persons, including former professional athletes.
“This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed,” Thompson said.
“Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes.”
However, Adongo’s previous lawyers and others have reportedly raised concerns about his mental health and the possibility that he suffered traumatic brain injury during his football and rugby careers.
According to reports, his lawyers had previously linked some of his arrests to mental illness. A defence attorney reportedly cited a 2020 medical report in which a doctor who examined Adongo described him as “acutely psychotic with traumatic brain injury.”
A mental health social worker who treated him for years was also reported to have written that he suffered from an undisclosed mental illness suspected to be Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE.
CTE is a brain condition associated with repeated head injuries over time, often linked to contact sports such as football and rugby. It cannot be confirmed in a living person and can only be diagnosed after death through an autopsy.
Reports noted that about one-third of former NFL players suspect they may have the disease, while the NFL first acknowledged the link between football and CTE in 2016.
Attorneys who previously represented Adongo did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and reporters were unable to contact him or determine his current legal representatives.
The Department of Homeland Security also did not immediately respond to questions about concerns raised by Adongo’s family and lawyers regarding his mental state and possible brain injury.
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