Colombian Christian Gonzalez, Venezuelan Andres Borregales of the New England Patriots and Brazilian Cairo Santos of the Chicago Bears are some of the Latinos to watch in the NFL playoffs that kick off this weekend.
Of the 14 teams participating in this postseason, seven from the American Football Conference (AFC) and seven from the National Football Conference (NFC), 12 have at least one player of Latino descent.
Defensive cornerstone of the Patriots
The New England Patriots, who will face the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild card round on Sunday, have two of the most prominent players:
Cornerback Christian González, of Colombian descent, and Andy Borregales, a kicker born in Caracas.
At 23 years old, Gonzalez is considered one of the best defensive backs in the NFL.
In the just-concluded regular season, he earned his first Pro Bowl selection by racking up 10 passes defended and 69 tackles.
Christian was instrumental in helping the Pats win the AFC East division title.
Latino precision in New England
He also shined the spotlight on Latino power in New England, Borregales.
A rookie who in his NFL debut year made 27 of the 32 field goals he attempted and connected on 53 of the 55 extra points he kicked.
Caraqueño was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 12.
This was thanks to the four field goals and two extra points he converted in the win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Absolute guarantee from the Bears
The NFL playoffs kick off this weekend
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The Chicago Bears, who will take on the Green Bay Packers this Saturday, have a gem in Brazilian Cairo Santos.
He is the most effective kicker in franchise history.
Santos’ safety was instrumental in the Bears winning the NFC North division title.
The 34-year-old native of Limeira finished the campaign with 25 successful field goals in 30 attempts and a perfect record on his 39 extra point kicks.
Santos is a guarantee that can make a difference when it comes to defining the NFL wild card round against the Packers.
Nik Bonitto leads Broncos’ Latino powerhouse
Another player to keep an eye on in the playoffs is Nik Bonitto, star linebacker for the Denver Broncos, who is of Cuban descent.
Bonitto is the heart and soul of the Broncos’ defense that finished atop the NFL’s National Conference.
This gave them the right to rest this week and wait for their opponent to play the divisional round next weekend.
Among those with Mexican roots is Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, who will lead his team on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams, who feature offensive lineman Steve Avila.
Also, don’t miss the activity of defensive depth players Julian Love of the Seattle Seahawks and Tony Jefferson of the Los Angeles Chargers.
With information from EFE
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