{"id":116582,"date":"2025-08-28T16:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/116582\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T16:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:51:10","slug":"nate-landman-on-life-as-an-african-nfl-player-people-dont-believe-me-at-first-los-angeles-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/116582\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Landman on life as an African NFL player: \u2018People don\u2019t believe me at first\u2019 | Los Angeles Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Nate Landman, surprise has become routine. The Los Angeles Rams<\/a> linebacker has lost count of the raised eyebrows, smirks, and awkward pauses when people learn where his story begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t believe me at first,\u201d Landman said. \u201cI\u2019ll show them I\u2019m covered in African tattoos, and some will say I\u2019m still lying until they look it up or someone will vouch for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landman isn\u2019t exaggerating \u2013 a white guy with a Californian accent isn\u2019t most people\u2019s picture of what one of the NFL\u2019s few African players would look like. But born in Harare, Zimbabwe\u2019s capital, in 1998, Landman\u2019s roots are intertwined with the country\u2019s sporting tradition. His South African father, Shaun, was in Zimbabwe at the time playing international rugby. When an engineering consulting firm offered Shaun a position in California, the family seized the opportunity. When Nate was three, the Landmans had moved to Danville, California, bringing with them not just their belongings, but also a rich cultural identity.<\/p>\n

Landman is the only active NFL player with Zimbabwe roots. Stansly Maponga, also born in Zimbabwe, played from 2013 until 2015. The NFL doesn\u2019t have the influx of international players like the NBA. Foreign-born players comprise only 3% to 4% of the league\u2019s numbers \u2013 Canada, Germany and Nigeria that have produced the most. The NFL is trying to change that, and created the International Player Pathway program as a way to increase the number of players born outside the United States.<\/p>\n

As for Landman, as the years passed Harare became more of a childhood blur than a lived memory. But his family kept Zimbabwe alive in their home, particularly when it came to food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought a lot of the Zimbabwean culture into our home,\u201d Landman said. \u201cOur home is still decorated as if we were still in Zimbabwe.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his three siblings and parents took pride in their South African and Zimbabwean ties, Landman grew up between worlds: California suburbia on the outside, African traditions on the inside.<\/p>\n

Athleticism was never far from the conversation in the Landman household. Shaun had played at the University of Cape Town before representing Zimbabwe in rugby. Nate\u2019s mother, too, was a competitive athlete.<\/p>\n

Inspired by that legacy, Landman threw himself into sports. In high school, he excelled in rugby and baseball. But it was football that became his calling.<\/p>\n

At the University of Colorado, Landman\u2019s relentless energy quickly made him a defensive cornerstone. Across five seasons, he developed a reputation as one of the better linebackers in the Pac-12 Conference. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2019 and 2020 and added a second-team selection in 2021. His style of play \u2013 fast, physical, fearless \u2013 mirrored the competitive fire passed down from his father.<\/p>\n

But the NFL is rarely a straight line.<\/p>\n

Despite his production at Colorado, Landman\u2019s name wasn\u2019t called during the 2022 NFL draft. Instead, he signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. He worked his way on to the roster, appearing in seven games as a special-teamer before being cut and placed on the practice squad later that season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough being undrafted,\u201d Landman said. \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy road. It\u2019s a road I\u2019m proud of because it\u2019s made me the player I am today. I took advantage of the opportunities \u2026 It\u2019s a huge part of my story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perseverance paid off the following season. Landman not only made the Falcons\u2019 roster but started 14 of 16 games. He collected 110 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and owned the second-best run-stop rate in the NFL among qualified linebackers (12.6%).<\/p>\n

For Landman, the achievement was about more than numbers. It was about validation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about setting a goal, reaching it, and then setting another goal,\u201d he said. \u201cBecoming a starter in this league is something I\u2019m super proud of. It\u2019s something everyone\u2019s striving to do. It\u2019s especially not easy for undrafted guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was easy for Landman to sign a one-year contract this offseason with the Rams. The team was in need of his leadership at inside linebacker, and it helped that Landman had a strong relationship with Rams assistant defensive coach Jimmy Lake, with whom he\u2019d previously worked with in Atlanta under the same system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys around me have allowed me to take a step up in my game,\u201d Landman said. \u201cEveryone [on defense] elevates each other, and that\u2019s the biggest thing that I\u2019ve noticed here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rams inside linebacker\u2019s coach Greg Williams has noticed a few different intangibles that Landman has brought to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings us something we haven\u2019t had in a while, which is his communication and energy,\u201d said Williams, following the Rams\u2019 preseason victory over the Cleveland Browns last Saturday. \u201cHe understands the whole game from a run-game and a pass-game perspective. So, the fact that he communicates with the entire defense, he\u2019s the glue that brings it all together, which gives guys the freedom to play, and everybody loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s the culture woven into his home life, the continent of Africa tattooed on the right side of his chest, or the determination that has carried him from an overlooked rookie to a starter in the NFL, Landman, who last visited his home country two years ago, continues to carry Zimbabwe with him on to the field.<\/p>\n

Hard work may have built his career, but identity grounds it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the support of my relatives who still live over there,\u201d he said, \u201cwearing tattoos, and having the Zimbabwe flag on the back of my helmet are all very important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Nate Landman, surprise has become routine. The Los Angeles Rams linebacker has lost count of the raised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-116582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}