The National Football League is a sport for all Americans to enjoy, and every culture and nationality is welcome. A handful of Native Americans have been represented in the league and many have made an indelible mark on the game.
Here’s some of the best of the Native American bunch throughout the history of the NFL.
Keenan Allen: Los Angeles Chargers
One of the longest serving NFL players of Native American descent is wide receiver Keenan Allen. He began his career with the Chargers in 2013 and has been engaged at the SoFi Stadium ever since.
Allen is descended from the Lumbee Tribe who have traditionally been based in North Carolina where he was born. In his ten-year playing career, he’s been a steady influence on the LA Chargers, and he helped to take them into the playoffs last season. Unfortunately for the franchise and its fans, the Chargers fell at the first postseason hurdle, but they’re aiming to go one better this time.
Current NFL sports betting markets list Allen’s team as one of the favorites to win the AFC West and progress deeper into the playoffs in 2023.
Malcolm Rodriguez: Detroit Lions
One of the more recent NFL players to claim Native American heritage is the Detroit Lions linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. He’s one of the best up and coming talents in the game, and many are predicting a big future for the Oklahoma State graduate.
After finishing in second place in the NFC North last season, the Lions were out of the playoffs, but they will aim for an improvement on their 9-8 regular season record. Rodriguez, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, will play an important role in the team’s defense next term.
Austin Corbett: Carolina Panthers
We come to the first Super Bowl champion on this list. Guard Austin Corbett was a part of the Los Angeles Rams team that lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2021. He featured in every game during that successful campaign, right through the regular season and into the playoffs.
Despite those achievements, Corbett was on his way in 2022, signing a three-year contract with the Carolina Panthers. He’s a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe and, at the age of 27, he has time left to add to his solitary Super Bowl success.
James Winchester: Kansas City Chiefs
Playing the very specialized role of the team’s long snapper, James Winchester will go down in history as one of the most successful Native American NFL players. As he approaches the end of his career, Winchester is already a two-time Super Bowl champion after winning the big prize with the Chiefs in 2019 and 2023.
After graduating from Oklahoma in 2013, James Winchester started his career with the Philadelphia Eagles before switching to Kansas City two years later. He’s an expert in the special teams and, at the age of 33, there is time for a third Super Bowl win. Winchester is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation.
Tyler Bray: Free Agent
While he is currently without a team, there is still a chance that quarterback Tyler Bray will come back and extend his NFL career. With a family heritage extending back to the Potawatomi Tribe, he was employed by three teams from 2013 through to 2021.
Bray began with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013, before linking up with the Chicago Bears five years later. In 2021, he was with the practise squad at the San Francisco 49ers, but never made it to the full roster.
His overall career stats may have been unremarkable, but James Bray is highly experienced, and could offer QB cover moving forward.
Jim Thorpe: Seven Teams
One of the most famous Native American names in sport as a whole, Jim Thorpe played for no fewer than seven teams in a career that ran from 1915 to 1928. He belonged to the Sac and Fox Nations and Thorpe’s Native name translates as ‘Bright Path’ which is highly appropriate.
He paved the way for fellow Native Americans to follow and, while those teams delivered little in the way of silverware, Thorpe’s presence certainly would have increased his teams odds on NJ sportsbooks. When the American football season was over, he remained active, playing baseball for three MLB teams, including two spells with the New York Giants.
There are relatively few Native Americans currently playing in the NFL, and the history of the game tells a similar story. To an extent, this merely reflects all walks of life in the United States, and the percentages involved are not unusual.
Moving forward, it is hoped that the current batch of players continue to make an impression on the league, while there is room for new stars to come through to represent their respective tribes and nations.
Is there a team or player you like? Whether you are a fan or a team club owner, you can customize enamel pins for matches or events, which can be used to express support! Football pins and baseball trading pins are the most popular types. Customized pins with the player’s name or club name can be used as a sign or to express love for the team or players.
