It's time for Daniel Adongo to play some football

ANDERSON — Every morning for Daniel Adongo begins the same. He wakes up and he writes something down.

"I remind myself what I'm working towards," he says.

It's what he's been working towards for two years now. He wants to be a football player.

The experiment first commenced 24 months ago, here at Anderson University, when the South African rugby player arrived at Indianapolis Colts training camp. He was fresh off a 17-hour flight and didn't own an ounce of football knowledge. He dreamt of becoming a rush linebacker. But at that point it was just that: A dream.

In many respects it still is. But progress is coming. Slowly. Before Adongo's first practice, in August 2013, he didn't even know how to strap his shoulder pads on. His signing was a gamble for the Colts and general manager Ryan Grigson, who volunteered a chance at a roster spot to a 6-5, 252-pound blank canvas of a prospect that had never played a down of football until the age of 23.

Today?

"Now the storm has passed," Adongo says. "The game has slowed down gargantuanly."

Soon we will find out how much. Adongo is expected to see game snaps on defense for the first time in his life Sunday when the Colts open the preseason at Philadelphia. Finally. He's waited and worked and wished for this day for two years.

Adongo needs all the reps he can get. He needs to play football. And the Colts need to see if he can play football.

He didn't play a down during the 2013 preseason — it was all too new, too fast back then — before he saw a few snaps on special teams late in the regular season. He tore his bicep in the first preseason game last year, and his 2014 campaign was lost in an instant. Now, fully healthy, he finally gets to try his hand at defense.

"I'm really pumped," Adongo said. "Ever since I got hurt, I've just been thinking about this moment and getting back on the field. I haven't taken my mind off it since last August."

No Colt on this 90-man roster needs the snaps more than Adongo. At this point the Colts know he can practice — he's had a solid camp, often strutting the speed and explosion that made him such an enticing prospect to begin with. But camp is camp. Games will decide Adongo's fate. He needs this preseason.

"Now, we've got to see it on the field when there are live bullets flying around," said defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.

Like a college student prepping for a final exam, Adongo has crammed in Football 101 for two years. He's closely studied the habits of Robert Mathis, and during this year's camp, Trent Cole, a pair of rush linebackers with more than 196 combined career sacks to their credit. He's learned how to practice, how to watch film, how to study, how to block and hit and tackle and read an offense.

This isn't his final exam, but this test will go a long way in determining if the Colts still deem this experiment worth the trouble.

Adongo adds an intriguing layer to an already-intriguing position group. Now down to seven weakside linebackers after Bjoern Werner's move to the strong side spot, Adongo will be fighting rookies Zack Hodges, Cody Galea and third-year pro Cam Johnson for consideration on the 53-man roster. Erik Walden, Jonathan Newsome and Cole are locks.

Through it all, Adongo has remained refreshingly upbeat, no matter the impossible odds he faced then and the long odds he faces now. "A total long shot," was how Grigson described him on Day 1. Asked of his goals then, Adongo said he wanted to "wreak havoc." He soon said he wanted to be the best to ever play the position. Yes, that means better than his idol, Robert Mathis.

"I want to be the best, because that's what Gladiators do," Adongo said last year during training camp. "That's my mindset."

The Gladiator will get his shot Sunday. That's when it starts. That's when Daniel Adongo finally gets to play football.

Call Star reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134 and follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.