From the Currie Cup to the NFL: Ex-Sharks and Western Province star signs for the New York Jets
Detail of a New York Jets helmet before the first half of an NFL Preseason 2025 game against New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Image: Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP
NFL side the New York Jets have signed former Sharks and Western Province winger Paschal Ekeji to their practice squad.
Ekeji, who played for the Sharks in this year’s Currie Cup campaign, earns a contract after joining the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) programme in 2022, which aims to increase the number of players from outside the United States or Canada in the league.
“Ekeji was one of 13 players from 12 countries selected as part of the NFL IPP Program class. In the summer of 2022, he was one of 49 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the first NFL Africa Camp,” the Jets said on their website.
Born in Lesotho to Nigerian parents, Ekeji grew up in Bloemfontein and made a name for himself on the rugby fields of Grey College. After school, he signed for Western Province in 2020 and went on to wear die streeptrui in the Currie Cup in 2023. In between, he spent time in the United States pursuing his NFL ambitions.
Last year, he returned to South Africa to play Varsity Cup rugby for Stellenbosch University and later signed for the Sharks in July, making two Currie Cup appearances.
Ekeji joins a growing list of rugby players attempting to transition to the NFL. The highest-profile example is Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit, who in 2024 signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars but did not feature in a game, before returning to rugby in 2025.
Ekeji now begins the next stage of his career on the Jets’ practice squad, continuing his development under the IPP programme. His move marks another step in the growing presence of African players in the NFL and adds to the list of rugby athletes exploring opportunities in American football.
IOL Sport