After an All-American career playing NCAA Division II football, Adrian (A.J.) Wentland was looking for an opportunity to stay in the sport after college. A teammate was playing in Finland, something that hadn’t occurred to Wentland as an option or even that it existed at all. Wentland created his European football player profile and thought he’d give it a try. Fast forward to nearly a decade later, and Wentland has played American football all across Europe, has become a 7x all-pro linebacker, and now lives and works year-round in Wrocław, Poland, where he plays for the Wrocław Panthers of the European Football League and during the offseason puts his exercise science degree to use training other Panthers athletes across many sports and age groups. Wentland is an ambassador for Americans to embrace opportunities to live and work abroad and an ambassador for American football in Europe, and he will happily tell you all about the amazing culture, lifestyle, history, and more that Poland has to offer.
At the end of the day, as an American import – they call us import players – your goal should be to grow the game and to help the Polish players become better and learn more. We can become teachers and instill the American culture of the game, because American football is a family sport and people are very close with each other.
Adrian (A.J.) Wentland Wrocław Panthers linebacker and European League of Football defensive player of the year