Zambian-born Player Joins NFL

Zambia-born American football player John Daka has joined the Baltimore Ravens in the US National Football League (NFL). 

Mr Daka is the first Zambian-born player to join the league since 1970, when Howard Mwikuta played as a placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys in the pre-season.

Daka attended James Madison University, where he played as a defensive end and earned second-team All-American honours from the Associated Press.

On Saturday, he signed an undrafted free-agent contract with the Ravens shortly after the NFL draft. 

Writing on Twitter, Daka said “Zambian people are a big family, it’s an honor to represent such great people”. 

He clarified on the social media sight that he was in fact born in Zambia, but later emigrated to the USA.

Daka said he felt like a “perfect fit” for the Ravens and had an indication that he might go to the team one the seventh round of the draft had started. 

However, he told reporters that there had been times where he considered giving up the sport altogether.

“There here were times when I didn’t even want to play college football anymore,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post. 

“I lost confidence in myself. I didn’t think I was good enough, so I think that’s the biggest barrier I’ve been through in my life personally. Even my family didn’t really know too much about what was going on because I didn’t want them to have that burden. The only people who on the daily knew what was going on were my teammates. They’re the reason why I’m here right now,” he said. 

Daka playing for James Madison University