Daniel Ojambo Adongo (born ) is a Kenyan sportsman. He moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

in 2007 to join the ' rugby academy and played professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

in South Africa and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

between 2011 and 2013. He then converted to

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

, joining the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

as an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

until 2015. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Rugby union

As a rugby player, he plays either as a lock or a flanker, and last played

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

for the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They wer ...

in the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brum ...

Youth

In Kenya, he joined the Kenya Harlequins junior team. He was spotted by South African scouts at the 2006

Safari Sevens The Safari Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Nairobi, Kenya. The Safari Sevens is open to international representative sides, professional and amateur clubs, invitational teams, university and school teams. Initially held at ...

tournament, playing in the schools category for School. In 2007, he joined to the academy. He progressed from Under–19 level in 2008 to Under–21 level in 2010.

Sharks

He was included in the squad for the

2010 Vodacom Cup The 2010 Vodacom Cup was contested from 26 February to 7 May. The 2010 Vodacom Cup is the 13th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Prem ...

, but failed to play in any matches. He did play in twelve Under–21 matches later in the year and was once again included in the squad for the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South A ...

competition, where he made his debut in the opening match of the season, a 30–19 victory over the . He made a total of ten appearances in that competition, scoring three tries. He was also included in the squad for the

2011 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top t ...

, but failed to feature in that competition.

Blue Bulls

At the end of 2011, he was signed by the . He made eight appearances for them in the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, ...

, but he was then released from his contract after just six months to join

ITM Cup team .

Counties Manukau

He joined prior to the 2012 ITM Cup. He made his debut against and played in eight matches for them on their way to winning the Championship and subsequent promotion to the Premiership. However, he wasn't named in their 2013 squad.

Kings

He joined the from Counties Manukau for the

. He was an unused substitute in the Kings' historic first ever match against the , but he did make his

debut the following week, coming on as a late substitute against his former team the . He also appeared against the and then made his first Super Rugby start against the in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. However, after another substitute appearance against the , he fell below

Rynier Bernardo Rynier Mark Bernardo (born 27 August 1991) is a South African rugby union player who currently plays as a lock for the Free State Cheetahs in the South African Currie Cup. Playing career Youth Bernardo represented at various youth tournamen ...

in the pecking order and reverted to playing domestic rugby, playing three matches for the in the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition. One more substitute appearance in the home victory over the followed, as well as playing the opening match of the 2013 Currie Cup First Division season, but his season then came to a premature end following a torn bicep injury.

Varsity Cup

He also played for in the

2012 Varsity Cup The 2012 Varsity Cup was contested from 6 February to 9 April 2012. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univers ...

, playing in three matches.

International

Internationally, he played for the Kenyan Under–18 and Under–21 national teams, and, although he initially expressed a desire to play for

internationally, he declared himself available for for the

2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying The qualification process for the 2015 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2015 event. A fu ...

series.

American football

On 25 July 2013, the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

announced that they signed Adongo as an outside linebacker despite the fact that he had no prior

experience. After spending time as a member of the Colts' practice squad, Adongo was added to the Colts' active roster on 3 December 2013. Adongo appeared in two games for the Colts in 2013, but did not record a tackle. On 7 August 2014, Adongo received a bicep injury during a pre-season game, and was waived with the injury designation by the Colts the following day. When he cleared waivers, he reverted to the Indianapolis Colts'

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. On 5 September 2015, Adongo was waived by the Colts. He was signed to the practice squad the following day. Adongo was elevated to the active roster on 12 November. He was waived again on 17 December 2015 after law enforcement personnel received at least two reports of possible domestic violence between Adongo and an unidentified female.

Life after sport

Adongo's father has expressed concern about difficulties his son was experiencing after his sports career ended.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adongo, Daniel Living people 1989 births Rugby union flankers Kenyan rugby union players Southern Kings players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Blue Bulls players Sportspeople from Nairobi Kenyan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in South Africa University of Pretoria alumni Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in the United States American football linebackers Indianapolis Colts players Kenyan players of American football Footballers who switched code Alumni of Strathmore School