{"id":68112,"date":"2025-04-29T11:39:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T08:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/?p=68112"},"modified":"2025-04-29T11:39:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T08:39:31","slug":"ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ahmed Hassanein has officially made history, becoming the <strong>first Egyptian ever selected in the NFL Draft<\/strong> \u2014 a milestone that has fans and the sports world buzzing with excitement.<\/p>\n<p>Those closest to Hassanein believe that the best is yet to come. Despite achieving what few thought possible, the Cairo native is still far from reaching his full potential. Perhaps that&#8217;s no surprise for someone who, just seven years ago, knew nothing about American football.<\/p>\n<p>After anchoring the defensive line for Boise State over the past two seasons, Hassanein has emerged as a standout talent. But his journey is about more than just athletic achievement \u2014 it\u2019s a story of relentless adaptation and transformation.<\/p>\n<p>In less than a decade, Hassanein has moved across the world, learned English, mastered a sport completely unfamiliar to him, navigated cultural shocks between Orange County, California, and Boise, Idaho, and underwent a deeply personal journey of faith, converting from Islam to Christianity. This last point has stirred significant online controversy, adding another layer of complexity to his public story.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@lovincairo\/video\/7498375187147083026\" data-video-id=\"7498375187147083026\">\n<section><a title=\"@lovincairo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@lovincairo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@lovincairo<\/a> \u0645\u0635\u0631\u064a \u062f\u062e\u0644 \u062a\u0627\u0631\u064a\u062e \u0627\u0644\u0640NFL&#8230; \u0628\u0633 \u0645\u0634 \u0628\u0633 \u0628\u0643\u0631\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0642\u062f\u0645! \ud83c\udfc8\ud83d\udd25 \u0623\u062d\u0645\u062f \u062d\u0633\u0646\u064a\u0646 \u063a\u064a\u0631 \u062f\u064a\u0646\u0647 \u0648\u0642\u0644\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0646\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a \u0639\u0644\u064a\u0647! \u0627\u0644\u0642\u0635\u0629 \u0643\u0627\u0645\u0644\u0629 \ud83d\udc40 <a title=\"lovincairo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/lovincairo?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#lovincairo<\/a> <a title=\"nfl\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/nfl?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#nfl<\/a> <a title=\"ahmedhassanien\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/ahmedhassanien?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#ahmedhassanien<\/a> <a title=\"\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f_\u062d\u0633\u0646\u064a\u0646\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/%D8%A7%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f_\u062d\u0633\u0646\u064a\u0646<\/a> <a title=\"\u0645\u0635\u0631\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#\u0645\u0635\u0631<\/a> <a title=\"viral\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/viral?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#viral<\/a> <a title=\"\u266c original sound Lovin Cairo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-Lovin-Cairo-0?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u266c original sound Lovin Cairo<\/a><\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hassanein\u2019s American football journey began almost by chance. Just before his sophomore year of high school, he moved to the United States after his older half-brother, Besch, visited Cairo. Besch \u2014 a former college football player at Azusa Pacific University and semi-pro player in Europe \u2014 immediately recognized potential in his younger brother, who, at 15 years old, already stood six feet, one inch tall, weighed around 215 pounds, and was an avid CrossFit enthusiast.<\/p>\n<p>Though Hassanein had never played a down of football or even seen a game before arriving in the U.S., he quickly adapted. His athleticism, work ethic, and determination helped him develop rapidly, turning him into a key figure on and off the field.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Ahmed Hassanein is not just a promising rookie entering the NFL; he\u2019s a symbol of perseverance, transformation, and international inspiration. His journey from the streets of Cairo to the world\u2019s biggest football stage is nothing short of extraordinary \u2014 and it\u2019s only the beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahmed Hassanein has officially made history, becoming the first Egyptian ever selected in the NFL Draft \u2014 a milestone that has fans and the sports world buzzing with excitement. Those closest to Hassanein believe that the best is yet to come. Despite achieving what few thought possible, the Cairo native is still far from reaching &hellip; ","protected":false},"author":3904,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"hide_featured_image":false,"featured_image":{"ID":68123,"id":68123,"title":"Screenshot 2025-04-28 182143","filename":"Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png","filesize":1660134,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png","link":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/attachment\/screenshot-2025-04-28-182143\/","alt":"","author":"3904","description":"","caption":"","name":"screenshot-2025-04-28-182143","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":68112,"date":"2025-04-28 15:21:56","modified":"2025-04-28 15:21:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1306,"height":572,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-250x109.png","medium-width":250,"medium-height":109,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-768x336.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":336,"large":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-700x307.png","large-width":700,"large-height":307,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png","1536x1536-width":1306,"1536x1536-height":572,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png","2048x2048-width":1306,"2048x2048-height":572,"small":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-120x53.png","small-width":120,"small-height":53,"custom-size":"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143-700x200.png","custom-size-width":700,"custom-size-height":200}},"featured_image_caption":"","shorten_deep_link":"https:\/\/lovin.go.link\/efpWW","ad_square_right":"","summary":"","flexible_content":false,"legacy_image":"","legacy_full_image":"","type_of_video":"Self Hosted","lovin_video_link":false,"lovin_video_link_webm":false,"video_thumbnail":false,"disable_ads":false,"slots_script_override":"","ad_horizontal_top_desktop":"","ad_vertical_left_desktop":"","ad_vertical_right_desktop":"","ad_horizontal_top_tablet":"","ad_horizontal_bottom_tablet":"","ad_horizontal_mobile_1":"","ad_horizontal_mobile_2":"","ad_horizontal_mobile_3":"","article_ad_infeed_slot":"","ad_square_podcast":"","disable_lovin_hearts":false,"lovin_heart_title":"","show_sponsor":false,"sponsor_image":false,"sponsor_name":"","sponsor_content":"","sponsor_website":"","sponsor_facebook":"","sponsor_twitter":"","sponsor_instagram":"","enable_reveal_feature":false,"reveal_image":false,"legacy_sponsor_name":"","legacy_sponsor_website":"","legacy_sponsor_content":"","legacy_sponsor_image":"","featured_for_app":false,"is_guest_user":false,"legacy_meta_tags":"","episode_number":"","embed_code":"","episode_introduction":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.6 (Yoast SEO v25.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ahmed Hassanein has officially made history, becoming the first Egyptian ever selected in the NFL Draft \u2014 a milestone that has fans and the sports world buzzing with excitement. Those closest to Hassanein believe that the best is yet to come. Despite achieving what few thought possible, the Cairo native is still far from reaching &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lovin Cairo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-29T08:39:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1306\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"572\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Farah Abdelkarim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/04\/28182156\/Screenshot-2025-04-28-182143.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Farah Abdelkarim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/\",\"name\":\"Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-29T08:39:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/#\/schema\/person\/684330535fde5291dafbc3f2fc321b7a\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/\",\"name\":\"Lovin Cairo\",\"description\":\"Just another Lovin site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/#\/schema\/person\/684330535fde5291dafbc3f2fc321b7a\",\"name\":\"Farah Abdelkarim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/08\/06134112\/Screenshot-2025-08-06-134101-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.lovin.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/08\/06134112\/Screenshot-2025-08-06-134101-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Farah Abdelkarim\"},\"description\":\"Farah\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/farahhatem.journoportfolio.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/farah-abdelkarim-577028190\/\"],\"birthDate\":\"1998-06-11\",\"gender\":\"female\",\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"Arabic\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Journalist\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/author\/farahabdulkarim\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lovin.co\/cairo\/en\/news\/ahmed-hassanein-is-making-history-as-the-first-egyptian-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ahmed Hassanein Is Making History as the First Egyptian Selected in the NFL Draft","og_description":"Ahmed Hassanein has officially made history, becoming the first Egyptian ever selected in the NFL Draft \u2014 a milestone that has fans and the sports world buzzing with excitement. 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