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Federal immigration officials confirmed they have deported former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Daniel Adongo, the Kenyan rugby convert whose signing in 2013 was one of the more unusual roster experiments in recent NFL history. It caps a decade in which he cycled through arrests, courtrooms and psychiatric hospitals.
Adongo, 37, was removed from the United States on June 20 after a Justice Department immigration judge ordered his removal in March, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Saturday. He had been in custody for months. ICE said he overstayed his visa in 2016, the year after his football career ended, and that he was held without bond under the Laken Riley Act. The department described him as a “dangerous” individual.
“Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes,” ICE Chicago assistant field office director Douglas Thompson said in a statement.
USA TODAY reached out to ICE for comment on where Adongo was deported to.
Adongo has one conviction, a Class A misdemeanor for criminal mischief in 2020 and was sentenced to 364 days in jail, according to ICE. Other arrests for intimidation, battery and disorderly conduct had charges dismissed.
Court records reviewed by the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, show that judges twice found Adongo incompetent to stand trial. In one filing, Dr. Jason Jaronik wrote that Adongo was acutely psychotic and raised the possibility of a traumatic brain injury from his playing days.
His mother, Betty Adongo, asked the court to release her son for medical evaluation. Family and social workers have said they believe his illness is tied to injuries he suffered as an athlete. No such link can be confirmed in a living patient.
Attempts to contact Betty Adongo were not immediately successful Saturday.
Adongo was 23 and playing Super Rugby in South Africa when Colts general manager Ryan Grigson signed him in July 2013. He had never watched a football game. The team spent a season teaching him the sport on the practice field.
He appeared in five games over three seasons and played one defensive snap. He earned roughly $694,000.
Indianapolis waived him in December 2015, a week after police were called to his home over a reported domestic disturbance. It was the second call in two months. No charges were filed in either case.
