NFL London 2021: Four of the most prominent Brits in the league
This weekend sees the start of the NFL’s International Series as regular season games return to London after an enforced hiatus due to the pandemic.
Prior to 2020, the capital had hosted at least one game every year since 2007 and in that time the game’s popularity has grown exponentially on these shores.
However, the Brit pack are also making their presence felt across the Atlantic, as both players and coaches.
Here are four of the most prominent Brits in the NFL right now...
Efe Obada
Buffalo Bills, defensive end
Raised in London from the age of ten, Obada rose through the International Player Pathway to become the best-known Brit in the NFL in recent seasons, with his glorious homecoming at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium two years ago providing one of the most iconic moments in the history of the International Series.
Jamie Gillan
Cleveland Browns, punter
Nicknamed the ‘Scottish Hammer’, Gillan has featured in every game for the Browns since the start of his rookie season in 2019, and reached the divisional round of the playoffs last year.
His error cost the franchise victory over the Chiefs in week one but with three wins since, Gillan and Cleveland look destined for another postseason run.
Aden Durde
Dallas Cowboys, defensive line coach
Durde’s star is very much in the ascendancy. Formerly the head of football development for NFL UK, helping nurture talents like Obada, he got his break in the league with the Atlanta Falcons and then followed current Cowboys defensive co-ordinator Dan Quinn to Dallas, where he has become a popular figure and gained something of a cult following for his cameos in preseason documentary series Hard Knocks.
Jermaine Eluemunor
Las Vegas Raiders, offensive line
Growing up in Chalk Farm, the 26-year-old puts his love of the sport down to watching the Dolphins vs Giants game at Wembley in 2007 on TV.
An ankle injury cut short Eluemunor’s 2020 season (he had been a starter for the Patriots in the early weeks) and after a tumultuous summer in which he signed for the Dolphins and Jaguars before being released, he has wound up in Vegas, where the Raiders have made a superb start to the year.
