The Best NFL Players from Africa

It has become the most popular sport in America, overtaking baseball, and basketball a long while ago, and the NFL has been well educated on building its brand for new audiences while not losing long-term fans.

People tune in from around the world to check out the NFL futures odds as well as all the other betting options on games as well.

While viewers will watch the NFL from al over the globe, there are now players across the world who dream of making their way into the NFL, which not too long ago would have seemed improbable.

There have now been top players across the NFL with African heritage who have represented their culture and been role models to young African American players hoping to go from high school to college and to the NFL as well.

Osi Umenyiora

Let’s get things started with a two-time Super Bowl Champion with the New York Giants turned pundit and analyst.

Umenyiora is of British and Nigeria descent and was a key figure in the Giants defense which went on the win the 2008 and 2012 Super Bowls.

Having arrived in Alabama at the age of 14, he went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL winning two Super Bowls, two Pro Bowl appearances, NFL forced fumbles leader 2010 and has a New York Giants Ring of Honor.

He made 435 tackles and 85 sacks during his career which spanned from 2003 to 2014 as well as 35 forced fumbles and four touchdowns.

Ndamukong Suh

Born in Portland, Oregon to Cameroonian parents, Ndamukong Suh has been one of the most impressive defensive players the NFL has ever seen.

He won the 2021 Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on his second appearance in the NFLs grand finale.

Suh retired after the 2022 season with plenty of accolades to look back at from his impressive career. In 2010 he was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the year, a five-time pro bowl pick and part of the NFLS 2010s All-Decade Team.

He recorded 600 tackles and 71.5 sacks, along with five forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries and 38 pass deflections in his career. Add to that three defensive touchdowns he was a star who became the highest paid defensive player in the NFL history when he joined the Miami Dolphins back in 2015 on a contract worth $114 million with $60 million guaranteed.

Mathias Kiwanuka

Back to the New York Giants and this time the grandson of Uganda’s first prime minister. Another two-time Super Bowl champion with the Giants like Osi Umenyiora.

Kiwanuka spent his entire NFL career in the Big Apple with the Giants having been drafted with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

The defensive end was born in Indianapolis and retired in 2014 after racking up 412 tackles, 38.5 sacks, 13 forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He was a two-time All American in 2004 and 2005 as well as the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2004.

Brandon Aiyuk

Let’s get to players still plying their trade in the NFL. On the west coast with the San Francisco 49ers Brandon Aiyuk is putting up some eye-catching performances with a team who have real Super Bowl aspirations this season.

Aiyuk is of Cameroonian descent and born in Rocklin, California, he was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft by San Francisco with the 25th pick.

2022 saw his best return for touchdowns with eight from 1,015 receiving yards. He will look to try and keep up that number of even beat it in 2023 while working with his teammates to try and get the 39ers back to the Super Bowl.

Chukwuma Okorafor

Selected with the 92nd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Okorafor is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The offensive tackle was noticed while playing at Western Michigan college and has since made an impressive career to date in the NFL.

His college career saw him named a First Team All American in 2017 and by the end of the 2022 season in the NFL he had played in 63 games, starting 52 of them.

Howard Simon Mwikuta

The Zambian is widely recognized as the first African player to feature in the NFL. He was a Zambian native who went on to become a placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970 preseason.

His time in the NFL, and with the Cowboys, was short, but he continues to be the symbol for African players aspiring to play in the NFL.

Each and every player of African heritage can look to these players and many more as role models and provide the belief they can make their dreams come true as well.