Kenneth Odumegwu caught the attention of Green Bay Packers fans and media last week, during the mandatory minicamp, with two sacks. Do you know how many organized and official football games he has played? Zero.

As the saying goes in the NFL, you find football players where you find football players. But for the most part, football players weren't found outside of the United States and, sometimes, Canada. The league wants to change that, and the results in less than a decade are already impressive.

The Nigerian Packers player is a part of the recently created NFL International Pathway Program, established in 2017 to help spread football around the world and to find elite athletes willing to make not only a sports transition, but to live a life-altering experience.

And even though the name of the program indicates a pathway, there are actually several paths to reach the NFL level from abroad. Since its inception, 37 international players have signed with NFL teams.

Some of them are athletes from other sports making a transition, some are amateur football players from small leagues trying to make a leap. Some, like Odumegwu, have never played football and had barely learned the basic rules. They are allocated, drafted, or signed as free agents, with roster exemptions to have developmental time.

A success story

The most successful IPP story at this point is from Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata. He was a rugby player in Australia and didn’t watch football games beyond the Super Bowl. Some years later, he decided to make a transition and got drafted by the Eagles in the seventh round in 2018 as a developmental piece based purely on his athleticism.

The combination of physical talent and the correct structure in Philly allowed him to learn and grow. Since then, he has signed two massive contracts — he's made $35.48 million, and if he finishes his current contract with the Eagles in 2028, he will have made $109 million.

"My advice to the players coming into the program would be to enjoy and respect the process," Mailata recently said. "Give it everything you've got. Embrace the opportunity and don't let it go to waste. Hard work will always outlast talent."

A unique opportunity

Over the years, globalization made football a more international sport than it had ever been. In Brazil, soccer dominates, but more and more people have had access to other options. And that's how Durval Queiroz Neto started his trajectory.

He played football (yes, American football) in Brazil without full-time compensation, reaching the Brazilian national team. He had experiences with some of the biggest football teams in the country, like Cuiabá Arsenal and Galo FA, and that created a way for him to sign with the Miami Dolphins in 2019.

"It was an incredible experience," Queiroz told A to Z Sports. "I mean, for someone playing American football in Brazil, where the peak you could reach was the Brazilian national team, going to the United States, participating in the international program was a bridge that made it possible to get into the NFL. Something that used to be impossible, no one had done it before."

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos was the first Brazilian to play in the NFL, but he had played high school and college football in the United States.

Queiroz Neto signed a special deal with the Dolphins, allowing him three years on the practice squad to develop his skills without counting against the roster limit or salary cap. He decided to go back to Brazil a couple of years ago to be closer to his family again, but the experience to open the door for other Brazilians is forever.

"It was going from an amateur sports system to the biggest sports league in the world. So everything, from physical conditioning, discipline, daily study of videos, plays, strategy. Even how to handle yourself in front of the cameras," Queiroz added. "I went from one thing and parachuted into a system that was totally different, you can't even imagine. The professionalism and the level of competition there. Nothing in the world compares to what they do there. Not soccer in Europe, not basketball, not baseball. The competition is extreme."

Physical outliers

You can't teach a knowledgeable football person how to be a freak athlete, but you certainly can take a physical outlier and teach him the rules, schemes, technique.

"As we focus on the global growth of the game, expanding international talent within the NFL is critical," said Peter O'Reilly, NFL executive vice president international, club business and major events. That's mostly how Jordan Mailata grew, and that's how the Packers chose Kenneth Odumegwu.

He was an amateur soccer player born in Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, and decided to participate in Educational Basketball, a program founded in 2015, in Lagos, to find potential athletes. He ended up learning about football, and after a series of combines and tryouts, he signed with the Packers in 2023.

The decision included a move to the United States, living a different culture and a new reality.

"It's been nothing short of amazing, to be honest," Odumegwu told Packers.com. "It's more than I expected it to be. I've really come a long way, integrating with the team. Getting to know my teammates more, them having trust in me. Learning football, living in Green Bay, it's been a great experience."

There's a sense of gratitude for what's happening.

"I want to show them the investment they made in me is paying off."

Different backgrounds

While players like Durval Queiroz and Kenneth Odumegwu had simpler lives, some IPP participants were already star athletes. Recently, the Super Bowl back-to-back champion Kansas City Chiefs signed former rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit, from Wales.

"OTAs have been unbelievable for me, because I get live reps on the field and that's what I need. Obviously, I've never played this sport before, so being able to get the reps with the boys, being able to see how they play, how I can get myself involved in the game," Rees-Zammit told Starcade Media. "The kickoff return, that's going to be massive for me, being an option there. There's a lot of similarities with rugby and kickoff return. These past few weeks have been great for me, my learning and my development."

On the list of IPP players, the backgrounds include basketball, soccer, handball, rugby, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, track and field. Players come from Europe, Africa, Oceania, Latin America.

It's a new era for football. Now, around the world.

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