Daniel Ojambo Adongo (born ) is a Kenyan sportsman. He moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 2007 to join the ' rugby academy and played professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

in South Africa and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

between 2011 and 2013. He then converted to

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, joining the Indianapolis Colts as an outside linebacker until 2015. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Rugby union

As a rugby player, he plays either as a lock or a flanker, and last played Super Rugby for the

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They we ...

in the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brum ...

Youth

In Kenya, he joined the Kenya Harlequins junior team. He was spotted by South African scouts at the 2006 Safari Sevens tournament, playing in the schools category for School. In 2007, he joined to the academy. He progressed from Under–19 level in 2008 to Under–21 level in 2010.

Sharks

He was included in the squad for the

2010 Vodacom Cup The 2010 Vodacom Cup was contested from 26 February to 7 May. The 2010 Vodacom Cup is the 13th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Pre ...

, but failed to play in any matches. He did play in twelve Under–21 matches later in the year and was once again included in the squad for the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South ...

competition, where he made his debut in the opening match of the season, a 30–19 victory over the . He made a total of ten appearances in that competition, scoring three tries. He was also included in the squad for the

2011 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top t ...

, but failed to feature in that competition.

Blue Bulls

At the end of 2011, he was signed by the . He made eight appearances for them in the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, ...

, but he was then released from his contract after just six months to join

ITM Cup team .

Counties Manukau

He joined prior to the

2012 ITM Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. He made his debut against and played in eight matches for them on their way to winning the Championship and subsequent promotion to the Premiership. However, he wasn't named in their 2013 squad.

Kings

He joined the from Counties Manukau for the

. He was an unused substitute in the Kings' historic first ever match against the , but he did make his Super Rugby debut the following week, coming on as a late substitute against his former team the . He also appeared against the and then made his first Super Rugby start against the in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. However, after another substitute appearance against the , he fell below Rynier Bernardo in the pecking order and reverted to playing domestic rugby, playing three matches for the in the

2013 Vodacom Cup The 2013 Vodacom Cup was played between 9 March and 18 May 2013 and was the 16th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First ...

competition. One more substitute appearance in the home victory over the followed, as well as playing the opening match of the

2013 Currie Cup First Division The 2013 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 June to 11 October 2013. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competiti ...

season, but his season then came to a premature end following a torn bicep injury.

Varsity Cup

He also played for in the

2012 Varsity Cup The 2012 Varsity Cup was contested from 6 February to 9 April 2012. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univers ...

, playing in three matches.

International

Internationally, he played for the Kenyan Under–18 and Under–21 national teams, and, although he initially expressed a desire to play for

internationally, he declared himself available for for the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying series.

American football

On 25 July 2013, the NFL's Indianapolis Colts announced that they signed Adongo as an outside linebacker despite the fact that he had no prior

experience. After spending time as a member of the Colts' practice squad, Adongo was added to the Colts' active roster on 3 December 2013. Adongo appeared in two games for the Colts in 2013, but did not record a tackle. On 7 August 2014, Adongo received a bicep injury during a pre-season game, and was waived with the injury designation by the Colts the following day. When he cleared waivers, he reverted to the Indianapolis Colts' injured reserve. On 5 September 2015, Adongo was waived by the Colts. He was signed to the practice squad the following day. Adongo was elevated to the active roster on 12 November. He was waived again on 17 December 2015 after law enforcement personnel received at least two reports of possible domestic violence between Adongo and an unidentified female.

Life after sport

Adongo's father has expressed concern about difficulties his son was experiencing after his sports career ended.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adongo, Daniel Living people 1989 births Rugby union flankers Kenyan rugby union players Southern Kings players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Blue Bulls players Sportspeople from Nairobi Kenyan expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in South Africa Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in South Africa University of Pretoria alumni Kenyan expatriate sportspeople in the United States American football linebackers Indianapolis Colts players Kenyan players of American football Footballers who switched code Alumni of Strathmore School