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The NFL created the International Player Pathway Program in 2017 to help players from outside the United States fulfill their dream of playing in the league.
The intention was to give players who did not attend school in the United States an opportunity to make it to the NFL. At the conclusion of the 2020 NFL season, nineteen out of thirty-two teams had at least one international player on their active roster, in part due to the International Player Pathway Program.
Each season a division in either the AFC or NFC is chosen to select the international players. Teams in the division that sign an international player through the program are allowed to have an extra practice squad player on their 90-man roster.
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The teams can either opt to include the player on their 53-man roster for the season or waive him and then reclaim him once he clears waivers as part of their practice squad.
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If the player is re-signed to the practice squad, teams can then apply for an exemption and retain that extra practice squad spot. However, they cannot promote the player to the active roster if they claim the exemption.
This season, the NFC West is the designated division.
Requirements to be a part of the International Player Pathway Program:
- Non-U.S. Citizen
- 24 years of age or younger
- Didn't play football at a United States college or university
- Graduated high school at least four years before
- Can speak English
Players Currently Taking Part in the International Player Pathway Program
Here are eleven players that are eligible to play on NFL teams this upcoming season.
#1 - Aaron Donkor, DE, Germany
Donkor, a former basketball player, made the switch to football when he was 21 and played for the German Football League's Dusseldorf Panthers.
As a linebacker with the Dusseldorf Panthers, Donkor recorded fourteen sacks and seventy-four combined tackles. Aaron Donkor has signed with the Seattle Seahawks for the upcoming season.
#2 - Taku Lee, RB, Japan
For the last four years, Taku Lee has tried to make his dreams of becoming an NFL player a reality.
He has played with the Obic Seagulls of the X-League as a running back and hopes to do the same this year, and if he takes the field in an NFL game he will be the first Japanese athlete to do so.
#3 - Yoann Miangue, DE, France
Yoann Miangue is a former member of the French National Taekwondo Team. He is now trying to achieve his goal of becoming a defensive end in the NFL.
Miangue is inexperienced and played his first football game just two years prior.
#4 - Leonel Misangumukini, DE, Austria
Leonel Misangumukini, a member of the Austrian Football League's Dacia Vienna Vikings, played as a defensive end and helped the Vikings win a championship last summer.
#5 - Adedayo Odeleye, DE, United Kingdom
Born in Nigeria, Adedayo Odeleye is a defensive end that offensive tackles and quarterbacks will fear due to his size and brute force.
He grew up playing basketball and soccer and would only catch glimpses of American football by watching videos online.
#6 - Ayo Oyelola, LB, United Kingdom
Ayo Oyelola grew up playing soccer in the UK and didn't learn much about the game of football or start playing it until he was in college.
#7 - Maximilian Pircher, OL, Italy
The Italian-born Maximilian Pircher played handball until he was nineteen years old and then tried out and made the Austrian team Swarco Raiders, where he won an Austrian Football League Championship.
He has now signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
#8 - Sammis Reyes, TE, Chile
A former basketball player on the Chile National Team, Sammis Reyes came to the United States to play basketball, eventually earning a scholarship.
After graduating from Tulane, he was unable to make an NBA roster and decided to try football. He had been approached by coaches who wanted him to play football in high school but he always turned them down.
After trying out at Florida's Pro Day, he was signed as a tight end by the Washington Football Team in April. He will be the first Chilean athlete in the NFL.
#9 - Bernhard Seikovits, TE, Austria
Bernhard Seikovits is a 12-year veteran quarterback who enjoyed a successful career in Austrian football where he won two European Championships.
He has now been signed by the Arizona Cardinals as a tight end, making a position change since leaving Austria.
#10 - Lone Toailoa, DE, New Zealand
Lone Toailoa played rugby in New Zealand before switching to football and attending Cal. While in college he played football and rugby.
#11-Alfredo Gutierrez, OL, Mexico
Gutierrez was born in Mexico and has played on Austrian and German national football teams before getting his tryout for the NFL.
