The New York Jets have announced the signing of former Sharks and Western Province winger, Paschal Hans Uzoma Ekeji, to their practice squad, marking a significant milestone in the young athlete’s transition from professional rugby to American football. The 23-year-old Lesotho-born Nigerian, who rose through South Africa’s prestigious rugby system, joins the Jets after completing the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) programme—an initiative designed to expand global representation in the league.
Ekeji’s signing was confirmed on Thursday via the Jets’ official website, which highlighted his impressive journey through the NFL’s international development structures. “Ekeji was one of 13 players from 12 countries selected as part of the NFL IPP Program class,” the team announced. “In the summer of 2022, he was one of 49 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who took part in the first NFL Africa Camp.”
Born in Lesotho to Nigerian parents, Dr. Uzoma Ekeji and Dr. Nwogo Immaculata Elluh-Ekeji, Paschal moved to South Africa at a young age and grew up in Bloemfontein. It was there, at the famous rugby nursery Grey College, that he began to showcase the exceptional athleticism that has now carried him into the world’s biggest American football league.
He represented the Free State in the prestigious Craven Week tournament before being recruited by Western Province in 2020. Determined, fast, and powerfully built at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Ekeji quickly made an impression, playing for Western Province U20 in the 2021–22 season and earning call-ups to the senior side for the Toyota Challenge.
His senior debut came in January 2022 in the Currie Cup Premier Division, where he faced the Lions. But his rise was temporarily halted when he suffered a knee ligament injury that sidelined him for a year.
In June 2022, still recovering but undeterred, Ekeji attended the first-ever NFL Africa Camp in Accra, Ghana. Scouts described him as a standout athlete with the size, agility, and coachability needed to make the switch to American football. His performance earned him a place in the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme in December 2024.
Reports from NFL evaluators noted that Ekeji “looked the part in every way—the size, the smoothness in and out of breaks, and the willingness to learn.”
However, despite impressing coaches, he did not initially secure an NFL contract and returned to rugby in South Africa.
In 2025, Ekeji signed with the Sharks for the Currie Cup Premier Division, making his return to professional rugby. He debuted in the fourth round against Griquas and later earned more opportunities during the campaign.
Still determined to pursue American football, Ekeji continued training under the IPP umbrella. His perseverance paid off on November 27, 2025, when the New York Jets officially added him to their practice squad as a defensive end, marking his entry into the NFL.
With this move, Ekeji joins a growing number of rugby athletes making the transition to the United States’ most popular sport. Perhaps the most notable recent example is Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit, who briefly pursued an NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars before returning to rugby
Ekeji’s journey highlights the increasing influence of African talent in American football, especially through the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme. The initiative, spearheaded by the league’s international development department, aims to identify elite athletes from around the world who can be molded into NFL-caliber players.
The Jets’ signing of Ekeji signals both confidence in his long-term potential and continued interest from NFL franchises in exploring global talent pools. For a young athlete who once sprinted down rugby sidelines in South Africa, the switch to American football represents both a challenge and an extraordinary opportunity.
Paschal is not the only athlete in his family. His younger brother, Pretorius Ekeji, is also a rugby union player, maintaining the family’s deep roots in sports. He also has two sisters, Pearl Ogochukwu Ekeji (a legal practitioner) and Pretty Erica Nzubechi Ekeji (a rugby player) and The Ekejis hail from Atta Ikeduru in Imo State, Nigeria, and maintain a strong sense of identity even as their careers take them across continents.
As Ekeji steps onto the Jets practice field, he begins the next chapter of an already remarkable sporting journey—one marked by resilience, ambition, and an unwavering pursuit of excellence.
For now, he joins the Jets as part of the practice squad, where he will continue developing the technical, tactical, and physical attributes required for NFL competition. But his signing alone is already a victory: a testament to how global the league has become, and how a young man from Bloemfontein—by way of Lesotho and Nigeria—can rise to compete with the best in American football.
The New York Jets, meanwhile, gain a uniquely gifted athlete with world-class speed and the raw potential to become a disruptive defensive force in the future.
Whether on a rugby pitch or an NFL defensive line, Paschal Ekeji’s story is still unfolding—and it promises to be one worth watching.
