Struggling former rugby union player Daniel Adongo has found his true calling in life – American football. The big surprise of it all is that the Kenyan born player was not even considering a future in NFL. The Indianapolis Colts were looking for tallish fast players to rush the opposition quarterback in an effort to prevent the pass being made. The athletic Adongo fitted the profile perfectly. After training camps and injuries to key players, he has been added to the Colts roster. This means he stands to earn in the region of R2.5 million per year as an entry level player. Not too shabby!
Adongo represented the Sharks junior teams before joining the Bulls, then a New Zealand provincial team and finally the Kings. Apart from his time at the Sharks, his spells at the other teams were unsuccessful. Being a player with great physical attributes and impressive gym statwas not enough. On the field of play where it counted most he fell short as a result of poor ball handling skills and a lack of positional awareness, particularly as a support player. In the very specialized sport of American football, his position does not require him to either catch or pass or tackle for that matter. He will use his size, speed and strength to get past to beat opponents and hassle the QB. Understand rules of NFL and the complicated playbook that each NLF team has might prove to be his most difficult challenges now.
He is playing defensive end, he will be required to tackle running backs all the time. Currently he is only on special teams and wont see any action at his position unless more or the game is a blowout.
And the regular season only consists of 16 games over 17 weeks +/- 4 months
@Grasshopper: By way of example the Dallas Cowboys stadium naming rights deal with AT&T is estimated to be worth $500 million.
@meadows: The media Ad spend in the US market dwarfs anything spend here by brands, so that is why these guys get paid so much. I can imagine a Coke or Pepsi deal for sponsoring or advertising in the NFL would be in the hundreds of millions if not even billions…
The minimum salary payable to an NFL rookie for 2014 is $420 000. Salaries are regulated as to minimum amount and linked to credited seasons so if he makes it through to next year with 1 credited season behind him he will earn at least $510 000 and then $600 000 in his 3rd year.
obviously there is no limit at the top end.
Drew Brees, the new Orleans Saints QB earned $51 million this season of which $11 million was in endorsements.
Aaron Rogers, the Packers QB earned $49 million and so on.
The top 5 Quarter backs all earn over $30 million.
The highest-paid player on the defensive side of the ball was Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews who banked $21.8 million, 12th best among NFL players.
Does kinda put the money in rugby into perspective