How Ahmed Hassanien Chased His NFL Dream From Egypt

Ahmed Hassanien didn’t know what the NFL was the first time he saw it. The trailblazing Egyptian, who was, and still is, the first and only man from the country to get drafted into the league, was watching a game on TV with his brother when his curiosity began to pique.
“I asked my brother what high school that was,” he says. “He was like, that’s the NFL, the National Football League. That’s like the Ahly and Zamalek in Egypt.” At the time, Hassanien had recently moved back to the United States from Egypt. He barely spoke English, had only recently started playing American football, and was still trying to figure out where he fit on the field. He tried wide receiver first. That didn’t work. Then linebacker. That didn’t work either.
“I couldn’t catch. I didn’t understand the game. I was getting penalties every game,” he says. So his brother simplified it. “He told me, just go get the guy with the ball,” Hassanein says. “See ball, go get ball. I’m going to go with that.” It was as basic as it sounds. Hassanien lined up on the defensive line without fully understanding assignments, technique, or even the pace of the sport. He relied on strength, aggression and repetition. Sometimes it worked. Other times, it didn’t.
“I was costing my team so many penalties. Kicking people, grabbing facemasks, throwing guys down,” he says. “I was just playing angry.” That anger had been building long before football entered the picture. Hassanien spent most of his childhood in Egypt after leaving the United States at six years old. By the time he returned as a teenager, he was dealing with family instability, struggling in school and searching for structure. 
“I was getting expelled, I was getting in fights, I was angry all the time, just because there's a lot of things around me that wasn't the best or the healthiest thing for me,” Hassanien says. Eventually, sport became the outlet. He tried everything. Basketball, soccer, combat sports, anything competitive. CrossFit was the first thing that gave him direction.
“I had a team, people cheering me on. I was number one in Egypt. Top 10 in Africa,” he says. “I thought that was going to be my life.” Instead, American football gradually took over. The encouragement helped. So did one coach in particular. Mitch Olsen started rewarding Hassanien with blue stars when he made positive plays. It stuck.
“That meant everything to me,” he says. “I respected him so much. That was the first time I really had a mentor like that.” Around the same time, Hassanien decided he wanted to chase the NFL, even if he didn’t fully understand the path. His brother laid out the steps. Division I scholarship. College football. Then maybe, if everything went right, a chance. Hassanien wrote it all down.
“I started living like a D1 athlete before I was one,” he says. “Wake up early. Train. Be on time. Take care of everything. I structured my whole life around that.” He trained for hours, watched pass-rush tutorials on YouTube, and attended camps just to get noticed. He only played two full seasons of high school football, with COVID wiping out another year, but his athleticism stood out. Offers started coming in. Boise State was the last one.
The defensive line coach had seen Hassanien’s clips on Twitter. When they connected, they realised he had played college football with Hassanien’s brother. Hassanien committed without visiting the campus. “I just felt called to go there,” he says.
He played as a true freshman. By his sophomore year, he was rotating into starts. As a junior and senior, he locked down a full-time role and was voted team captain twice by teammates. The production followed, including a strong final stretch as a pass rusher that pushed him into draft conversations.
Still, coming from Boise State meant uncertainty.
“I always had a chip on my shoulder,” he says. “People were like, can he do it at the next level? It’s not Alabama, it’s not Miami.” Draft day didn’t ease that feeling. Hassanien had heard projections anywhere from the third to fifth round. Names kept coming off the board. Edge rushers went ahead of him. The wait stretched longer than expected. “It was stressful,” he says. “You see everyone getting picked and you’re just sitting there.” Then the Detroit Lions called in the sixth round.
“They told me they were going to pick me right there,” he says. “I just broke down.” The moment also carried a different layer. Hassanien became the first Egyptian player ever drafted into the NFL, a milestone he acknowledges but doesn’t frame as pressure.
“I don’t really feel pressure from it,” he says. “American football isn’t that big in Egypt yet. I just want to be productive for myself and my family.” His rookie year didn’t follow a straight line. An injury disrupted his first season. He was released, then brought back to Detroit’s practice squad. At one point, the Tennessee Titans offered him a move to their 53-man roster. Hassanien turned it down and stayed.
“They drafted me. They believed in me,” he says. “Loyalty means a lot to me.” Now he’s preparing for another push, focusing on development and earning a consistent role.
“I’m changing my body, training different, doing things I haven’t done before,” he says. “I just want the opportunity.” The goals haven’t shifted. Hassanien still talks about building generational wealth for his family, growing the game in Egypt, and reaching a level that once felt unrealistic.
“I want to set the standard high,” he says. “I want to be the best to ever do it.” It’s a long way from asking what high school the NFL belonged to. But for Hassanien, the path has always been built one step at a time, even when he didn’t fully know where it was leading.