The NFL's Super Bowl commercial celebrating the growth of football internationally through the story of a young boy in Ghana got the globe's attention.
In Baltimore, the Ravens are living proof.
The commercial's tagline is that "it doesn't matter where you're born, if you're born to play."
The Ravens have several players who were born in Africa:
RB Gus Edwards (Liberia)
Edwards was named ESPN Africa's "Africa-Born Player of the Year."
WR Nelson Agholor (Nigeria)
OLB David Ojabo (Nigeria)
Baltimore also has more players who are first-generation Americans born to immigrants from Africa:
DT Justin Madubuike (Nigeria)
"I just watched how hard they worked," Madubuike said of his parents in 2020. "They came to this country with nothing and they turned nothing into something. That inspired me to be the very best me I could be."
"In Nigeria, sports was never what you used to feed your family," Madubuike's mother, Maureen, said. "Education was major. We always told him, 'The grades mean everything.' But for him, sports was No. 1."
Madubuike was named ESPN Africa's 2023 MVP.
OLB Odafe Oweh (Nigeria)
The Ravens' international reach goes beyond Africa.
Safety Kyle Hamilton was born in Greece, and he repped the South Korea flag (from his mother's side) on his helmet this season as part of the NFL Heritage program.
Offensive lineman Daniel Faalele was born and raised in Australia. Defensive end Brent Urban and outside linebacker Tavius Robinson are Canadian.
The NFL's global expansion is real, and the Ravens' locker room is a testament.
This season, five regular-season games will be played as part of the International Games, including the first game in South America (Brazil). The Ravens went to London in 2023, scoring the franchise's first victory overseas against the Tennessee Titans.
