Former Colts linebacker Daniel Adongo deported by ICE after visa overstay

ICE deported former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Daniel Ogama Adongo on June 20 after a Department of Justice immigration judge ordered him removed in March, ending a case built on a visa overstay and a long arrest history. Adongo, 37, was a Kenyan national whose path from rugby to the NFL had once made him a rare figure in American football.

Adongo signed with the Indianapolis Colts in 2013 after converting from rugby to American football and later left the league in 2015. He overstayed his visa in 2016, according to the case history, and his immigration status eventually moved into removal proceedings that culminated in the March 23 order from the immigration judge.

His record extended well beyond the visa violation. Reporting tied his case to multiple arrests over roughly a decade, and he was convicted of criminal mischief in 2020. One account described a cycle of arrests, courtrooms and psychiatric hospitals that spanned much of that period, underscoring how his legal troubles grew alongside the immigration case.

ICE’s Chicago office said in a statement that it had removed Adongo and described him as a criminal illegal alien. The agency also said his case qualified under the Laken Riley Act, the 2025 law that expanded detention and removal authorities in certain cases. That detail places the deportation inside a broader enforcement system that can reach far beyond border crossings, including people who once had visible, mainstream American careers.

Adongo’s case drew attention in part because he had been described as the first Kenyan-born NFL player to be deported. But his public profile did not shield him from immigration enforcement once the overstay, arrest history and removal order aligned, and ICE moved to carry out the judge’s decision.