A PATHWAY from the American Football Ireland Premier League to a Division One college in the United States may not seem the most straightforward, but it has not stopped former Belfast Trojan Lopez Sanusi who departed for Boise State over the weekend.

The 20-year-old, who was born in Dublin to Nigerian parents, only fully took up the sport in 2020 when he settled in Belfast.

In the space of one year, the defensive lineman would set his sights on playing at college level and through the NFL Academy, based at the Loughborough Centre of Excellence in England, provided that pathway.

His talents quickly came to the attention of colleges in the United States with a number of coaches keen to secure his services including those from Georgia State, Buffalo and Campbell, but it was on a visit to the Boise State Broncos that his mind was made up to commit to the Mountain West Conference Championship finalists.

It won’t be the first time Lopez has resided on American soil, as following the passing of his mother when young, he spent time in the US with his father before finishing school in Nigeria and then moving to Belfast to be near his brother Abiola, who heads the Lola Academy in soccer.

Naturally, he tried his hand with soccer, but it wasn’t the correct fit and despite having passed over American football during his years in the States, linking up with the Belfast Trojans would prove to be an inspired decision as he found his niche.

“When I played in America, I wasn’t really taking it seriously and didn’t know much about it,” he admitted.

“Then in Belfast, I tried regular football (soccer) but kept getting red cards. I just thought I needed to do something as sports is the only thing I love doing and I noticed American football and the Trojans were near me, so I progressed on.

“At the Trojans, I had a guy come and record my practices, record the games and we sent them off to coaches in America.

“The goal was to play Division One football, but then with the NFL Academy, I saw that was a really big platform to progress and make a name for myself.

“It shows that kids from Ireland have that opportunity if they want to go to college in America to play football, run track or whatever, I’m not the only one and it can be done with hard work.”

Making the grade at a Division One college will be far from straightforward as competition for starting berths on the team will be fierce, so the hard work begins in earnest.

Lopez set off for the Idaho college on Saturday ready to hit the ground running with a programme of workouts planned over the coming months to get set for the new season.

Education is also an important aspect, so juggling his academic and sporting commitments will be crucial as he aspires to make a name for himself at Boise which has a rich history in American football and draws huge crowds to its games.

This is just the next step on the overall journey, he hopes, as reaching the NFL would be a dream scenario, but it’s a case of establishing himself as a quarterback’s nightmare at college level first and proving that reaching this stage is possible with hard work.

“It’s a huge college and when I was over there, there was about 40,000 people at a game, which is crazy,” he acknowledged.

“I’ll be a lot older than the other freshmen, so they see me as a guy who can be a starter this year and they have plans for me.

“Out of all my offers, this is the one that was the best for me to develop and help me get to the NFL, but I will take it step by step and work my way up the board.

“As soon as I get there, it’s straight into the winter workouts and then we have spring football. It will be hard as I’m just getting ready for my first semester and then get ready for fall camp and the season.”