Christian Okoye had never seen an American football game before 1982. When he did see one, he didn't much like it. The elongated shape of the ball seemed peculiar. He found the repeated stops and starts boring and confusing. Worse, he felt the frequent substitutions from the sidelines robbed the game of the natural flow that is the glory of soccer, his consuming passion since grade school.
Many overseas visitors voice such plaints about U.S. football. But few change their opinions as totally as Okoye. Last week the Nigerian-born fullback, 6 ft. 112 in., 260 lbs., led the charge as the...