Born in London, Jay Ajayi might be the highest-profile British-born NFL player in league history.
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Miami Dolphins 5th-round draft pick Jay Ajayi returned to his home in London, England to visit his Emirates Stadium – home of his beloved Arsenal – for the first time since he and his family moved to the United States.
In a video released by Arsenal, the British-born Ajayi revealed that he has been an Arsenal fan for his whole life and found the experience of being at Emirates Stadium “a surreal moment.”
The son of Nigerian parents in London, Ajayi and his family moved to the United States in 2000 – when he was in fourth grade – and parlayed the footwork he learned growing up and playing football into skills as a successful athlete multi-sport athlete when he was in high school at Frisco Liberty High School in Texas.
Ajayi committed to Boise State University to play American football and became one of the best running backs in college football, recording 50 TDs in three seasons and being named First-Team All-Mountain West Conference in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, Ajayi led the #16 ranked Boise State Broncos to one of their best seasons in school history, winning the Mountain West Conference Championship and scoring an upset win over the #10 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.
In the 2015 NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Ajayi with the No. 149 overall pick in the 5th round. He has a very good chance of making the final 53-man roster and possibly becoming the starter down the road.
Ajayi will return to England once again to play at Wembley Stadium in October when the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Jets for one of the three NFL London games.
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