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Is Ghana Represented in the NFL?

The NFL is often called America’s game. All the franchises are from the United States, and most players are from the US. Some players do not call the Star-spangled Banner their own. Some have hailed from as far as…Ghana. Of course, the African nation has also had representation from those with lineage from the country.

From Accra to Detroit: Ezekiel Ansah

The first name on any Ghanaian American football article has to be Ezekiel Ansah. The defensive end is considered one of the best African players ever played in the NFL. Ansah was a gifted athlete at his school, playing soccer, basketball, and multiple track sports.

In addition, he excelled in his academic pursuits, which allowed him to enrol as a student at Brigham Young University, an institution in Provo, Utah. He tried out for the basketball team but didn’t cut multiple times. Despite unfamiliar with American Football, he became a natural in the game during his sophomore year.

The rest is history; the Detroit Lions drafted him in the first round of the 2013 draft. He spent multiple seasons with the Lions before switching to the Seattle Seahawks for his penultimate season and finishing his career with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020.

The First Ghanian: Ebenezer Ekuban

There can be only one first. Ebenezer Ekuban is Ghana’s first proper representative in the NFL. Another defensive end, Ekuban, came from Accra, the Ghanian capital city, to study at Bladensburg High School in Maryland, where he became exposed to American football for the first time. While he initially went to the US to study medical sciences, his accolades on the gridiron became too much of an opportunity to pass up.

His stellar college career in North Carolina interested NFL scouts in his services. This led to him becoming a first-round pick in the 1999 draft, selected by the Dallas Cowboys. He quickly became integral to the defensive lineup and stayed that way until he left for the Cleveland Browns. He only spent one season in Ohio as he moved to the Denver Broncos for his last two seasons.

After retiring from his playing career, Ekuban has held coaching roles in both high school programmes and even been on the recruitment team at the Broncos, as he still lives in Colorado.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: American, Ghanian and British

Contemporary Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is from three different cultures. He was born in Hampton, Virginia, making him American, but he has roots in both Ghana and England from his parents.

Owusu-Koramoah played for Notre Dame in the college system between 2018 and 2020 before being selected in the 2021 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. Since then, he’s quickly become one of their most critical defensive assets, being named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and participating in the 2023 Pro Bowl.

Despite being an All-American, Owusu-Koramoah acknowledges his African heritage, notably in 2022 when he went to Ghana and ran an American football programme for the country’s youth. Unfortunately the Browns are in turmoil just now thanks to another injury to controversial QB Deshaun Watson, so JOK may need to force a trade to a team ranked much higher in the live Vegas odds for the NFL if he wants to have a chance at a ring.

African Flair in Minnesota

Brian Asamoah might have been born in Newark, New Jersey, but he brings a swagger of Ghanaian character to his game in Minnesota. The Vikings linebacker can often be seen wearing his distinctive Ghanaian flag headband on the field.

He was raised by his Ghanaian family in Columbus, Ohio. He left the family home to attend the University of Oklahoma, where he became part of the Oklahoma Sooners football team. His performances led to his being drafted to the purple-clad franchise in 2022.

Honourable Mention for Phil Yeboah-Kodie

Before Ebenezer Ekuban, another Ghanaian could have played in the NFL. That man was Phil Yeboah-Kodie. He played in the college system for Penn State Nittany Lions and was even drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 1995 NFL draft.

Unfortunately for Yeboah-Kodie, the Broncos coaching staff decided that he didn’t make the cut for the team and was relieved of his place on the roster before the season started.

When will the pigskin replace the soccer ball in Ghana?

Despite all the NFL players from Ghana and those of ancestry from there, the sport is still not considered to be massively popular. Soccer is still the most prominent sport by some margin; athletics, basketball, and boxing are the next up—American Football still has some ground to make up.

The NFL is trying to change all that as part of its expanding global recruitment system. In 2024, the league actively invested in Ghana as a destination to foster the sport. However, this came at the expense of Nigeria, which has historically produced more NFL players than other African countries.

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