Jonathan Yao-Lante Asamoah (born July 21, 1988) is a former

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in the third round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. He played

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Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Asamoah was considered one of the top interior offensive linemen for the

. Asamoah has also played for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

High school career

Asamoah attended Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, where he was a two-time first-team SICA Green All-Conference selection and helped the offense to gain over 3,100 rushing yards. He was an All-State selection by the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', and an All-Midwest Region selection by ''PrepStar''. Considered a two-star recruit by ''

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'', Asamoah was not ranked among the nation's best offensive linemen prospects in 2005. He originally committed to Northern Illinois, but reconsidered his choice after he received an offer by Illinois.

College career

In his initial year at Illinois, Asamoah played in five of the last six games of the season at offensive guard as a true freshman. In 2007, he started at right guard in all 13 games and was in on 991 offensive plays. He recorded 80 knockdowns, blocking for 2007 Big Ten Player of the Year Rashard Mendenhall, who later was a first-round selection in the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. In his junior season, Asamoah was part of an offensive line that has helped the Illini rank first in the Big Ten in total offense (448.3) and pass offense (274.5) and second in scoring offense (30.4) through 11 games. In 2009, Asamoah was listed at No. 5 on ''

′s'' preseason interior lineman power ranking. He was also named to the 2009 Outland Trophy watch list.

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

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'' noted he "lacks great bulk but is a solid run blocker." Asamoah was selected in the third round, 68th overall, by the

. He was the highest selected Illinois offensive lineman since Brad Hopkins in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Kansas City Chiefs

Asamoah started one game in the 2010 NFL season. It was a game against the Buffalo Bills. The next season, Asamoah started all games of the season. In 2013, he was expected to compete with

Geoff Schwartz Geoffrey Isaiah Schwartz (born July 11, 1986) is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League, NFL and author. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and played for them ...

for playing time at guard. He ended up starting nine games.

Atlanta Falcons

Asamoah signed with the

on March 11, 2014. He was cut by the Falcons on December 21, 2015.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioKansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asamoah, Jon 1988 births Living people American football offensive linemen American sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Atlanta Falcons players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Kansas City Chiefs players People from Matteson, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois