Former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Daniel Ogama Adongo has been deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the agency saying he overstayed his visa and had a history of arrests.
Who is Daniel Adongo and why was he deported?
Adongo, 37, was removed from the United States on June 20 after ICE said he overstayed his visa in 2016, the same year his NFL career ended. A Department of Justice immigration judge ordered him removed March 23, 2026 and before his deportation, Adongo was held at the Miami Correctional Facility.
Adongo made history in 2013 when he became the first Kenyan to play in the NFL after signing with the Indianapolis Colts. A former rugby player, he appeared in five games over two seasons before leaving the team in 2015.
ICE said Adongo was convicted of criminal mischief with damage, a misdemeanor, in 2020 and sentenced to 364 days in jail. Court records show that, with credit for time served, he was ultimately ordered to serve six months in county jail, as per NBC News.
As per reports, he also faced other charges including felony intimidation, battery, and disorderly conduct that did not result in conviction and court records show those charges were all dismissed.
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ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson said in a statement, “This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed. Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes,” per NBC News.
Lawyers linked Adongo’s arrests to mental illness
Adongo’s lawyers have previously attributed his arrests to mental illness. His defense attorney cited a 2020 report in which a doctor who examined Adongo at St Joseph Regional Medical Center described him as “acutely psychotic with traumatic brain injury,” as per NBC News. A mental health social worker who treated Adongo for years wrote that he suffered from an “undisclosed mental illness which is highly speculated to be Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE,” the Indianapolis Star reported.
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In 2017, Adongo spent time at a psychiatric facility after a judge ruled him incompetent following a psychiatric examination. His family has also said they believe he developed mental health issues from playing contact sports.
CTE is a brain condition caused by repeated head injuries, typically sustained over many years and cannot be diagnosed in a living patient, only through an autopsy, as per NBC News. About one-third of former NFL players suspect they have the disease, according to a 2024 survey. The NFL first acknowledged the link between CTE and football in 2016.
