Lucas Balthazar Niang (born August 18, 1998) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

and was selected by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the third round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

. He is a dual citizen and is both American and French.

Early life

Niang grew up in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

, where he became a football star at

New Canaan High School New Canaan High School is a public high school in New Canaan, Connecticut, United States. In 2017, it was ranked the best public high school in Connecticut, and one of the top 200 in the nation. New Canaan High School was ranked the 74th best ST ...

. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and lived in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...

from the ages of 4 to 6. His family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut when they returned to the US. Niang started to play football with the Pop Warner league in New Canaan in 3rd grade. Niang also played basketball and tennis growing up. Playing both offensive and defensive line in high school, he helped lead the Rams to state championships in 3 straight seasons from 2013 to 2015, before committing to play

. At New Canaan, Niang was a two time All-FCIAC selection as a Junior and Senior, and during his Senior Season was an All-State First-team Selection, from both the Coaches Association and New Haven Register.

College career

Niang was highly recruited coming out of high school. He had around 40 scholarship offers from schools including TCU,

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, Auburn,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and decided to enroll at TCU. After enrolling at TCU in 2016, Niang played in 12 of the Horned Frogs' 13 games as a true freshman that fall. He became a starter midway through his sophomore season in 2017, helping lead the Frogs to the program's first-ever berth in the

Big 12 Championship Game The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

and a win in the 2017 Alamo Bowl over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. Starting all 13 games at right tackle for TCU as a junior in 2018, Niang didn't allow a sack the entire season and earned 2nd Team All-Big 12 honors before helpling lead the Frogs to a win over

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the

2018 Cheez-It Bowl The 2018 Cheez-It Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 26, 2018, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The game was the 30th annual playing of the Cheez-It Bowl and the first played under that name. It featured t ...

. Prior to his senior season, Niang was named 1st Team Preseason All-Big 12, and

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

named him as one of the top offensive linemen in college football.

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executive

Gil Brandt Gilbert Harvey Brandt (March 5, 1932 – August 31, 2023) was an American professional football executive who was the vice president of player personnel in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988. He was indu ...

has named Niang as one of the top offensive line prospects for the

, and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

draft expert

Todd McShay Todd Marshall McShay (born March 22, 1977) is an American football television analyst and commentator. Early life McShay attended North Shore Christian School in Lynn, Massachusetts and then Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, ...

has projected Niang as a first-round selection and best offensive tackle in the

. Niang was forced to end his senior season early after TCU pulled out an upset win against the University of Texas in late October 2019. He had been advised by his doctor the week before to get surgery to repair a torn hip labrum he had been playing through since the beginning of the season to avoid the risk of a more severe injury. Niang played as a true freshman in 12 games out of 13. He became a starter as a sophomore and in his 28 games and three-year span as a starter for TCU, he never allowed a single sack. Over that period, he only had two holding calls and no false starts.

Professional career

Niang was selected by the

in the third round with the 96th overall pick of the

. On August 6, 2020, he announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Niang was named the Chiefs starting right tackle to begin the 2021 season. He started seven of the first nine games, missing two with a shoulder injury, before suffering a ribs injury in Week 9. He missed the next four games. He made his first start at left tackle in Week 17 but suffered a torn patellar tendon in the game. He was placed on injured reserve on January 7, 2022. On August 23, 2022, Niang was placed on the reserve/PUP list. He was activated from the reserve/PUP list three months later. Niang won his first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

when the Chiefs won

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Confere ...

against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. Niang is the first French national to ever play in the Super Bowl game and win a Super Bowl ring. Niang won a second straight Super Bowl championship when the Chiefs defeated the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

25–22 in

Super Bowl LVIII Super Bowl LVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. A rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years prior, the American Football Conference (AFC) 20 ...

. Niang was waived by the Chiefs on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on November 26.

Personal life

Niang's parents moved to the United States from France and he is fluent in French. His father is from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and his mother is from

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niang, Lucas 1998 births Living people American football offensive linemen French players of American football Kansas City Chiefs players People from New Canaan, Connecticut Players of American football from Fairfield County, Connecticut TCU Horned Frogs football players American people of French descent American people of Ivorian descent