When it comes to American football being played the borders of the United States, Bjoern Werner is eager to talk. “Anytime,” Werner says, “so football overseas gets some credit.”
The outside linebacker, a Berlin native, became the first German player to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft when the Colts selected him out of Florida State in 2013. Today he’s one of five German-born players on active NFL rosters, along with Sebastian Vollmer (Patriots), Markus Kuhn (Giants), Kasim Edebali (Saints) and Mark Nzeocha (Cowboys). Each of the players reached the NFL via a different path—for Werner, it was through the International Student Program run by former Notre Dame player Patrick Steenberge, which gives high schoolers from other countries the chance to study and play football at a prep school in the U.