Alex Afari wanted to play ‘real football,’ but now he’s an emerging SEC star
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Alex Afari led Kentucky with 13 tackles in a strong week-one performance.
- Afari transitioned from safety to inside linebacker after adding 25 pounds.
- Afari’s football career began by accident after a language mix-up over 'football.'
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When Kentucky football’s defense was on the field for the season-opening win over Toledo it never took long to find Alex Afari.
The Wildcat linebacker led the team with a career-high 13 tackles. He added two tackles for loss and one sack. When something good happened for Kentucky, Afari was often involved.
Afari’s ascent to an essential piece for Kentucky might never have happened if not for a miscommunication created by a language barrier more than a decade ago.
“When I came to the United States, I wanted to play football,” Afari said. “The real football.”
The real football, according to then 8-year-old Afari, was more commonly known as soccer in his new country, but Afari spoke little English.
He was born in Italy, where his parents had immigrated from Ghana when his father found a job there as a shoemaker. His parents eventually moved to the United States, but Afari and his siblings lived in Ghana with other family while his parents settled in Ohio. After four years in Ghana, Afari joined his parents in Cincinnati.
There, Afari connected with neighbor Jeffery Strader, the grandfather and legal guardian of Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson. Strader suggested Alex and his older brother, David, join Johnson’s youth football team.
“I said, ‘I want to play football,’ so they thought I wanted to play American football,” Afari said. “They put a helmet on me, shoulder pads. I hated it. I hated how heavy it was. I couldn’t move in them the very first time.”
Even after clearing up the confusion about which sport he was playing, Afari had a simple reason to stick with football: His parents had already paid for him to join the team. Strader also reminded him of the importance of honoring a commitment.
“He didn’t let me quit,” Afari said. “And, yeah, I’m glad he didn’t, because I’m here now, and I’m blessed to be here, and I love football.”
Reached by phone this week, Strader remembered part of the initial confusion actually coming from Afari’s mother, Mary Acheampong. She was on board with the idea of her sons playing soccer but was worried about the injury risk that came with football.
Afari’s gangly frame looked more like a soccer player than future SEC linebacker, but once he embraced the new sport he learned quickly, despite not feeling fully comfortable with his English until several years later.
“Alex is like a sponge,” Strader said. “Him and his brother, they used to just absorb everything.”
Strader and Afari lost touch around Afari’s sixth-grade year, but Afari remained in contact with Johnson. When Strader finally saw him again around four years later, he was shocked by the transformation in Afari’s body.
That change should be familiar to Kentucky fans by now.
Afari arrived at UK in 2022 as a defensive back. UK coach Mark Stoops had dreams of him playing cornerback but the staff decided to start his career at safety.
As a sophomore, Afari moved to a hybrid outside linebacker/nickel back position. He continued to add muscle to his 6-foot-2 frame, leading Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White to move him to inside linebacker in 2024.
Afari opened last season as a backup to multi-year starter D’Eryk Jackson, but he started the final six games after Jackson was sidelined by an injury. That experience helped Afari focus on areas of improvement heading into his final college season. He is now listed at 227 pounds, up almost 25 pounds from his listed weight as a freshman.
“He made that transition very well last year,” Stoops said. “I don’t think that was really talked about enough, how he moved inside and played so well a year ago.
“And this is one game, but he certainly took another step.”
Afari’s 13 tackles against Toledo were three more than any other SEC player in week one. His nine solo tackles also topped the league. He tied for third among SEC players in tackles for loss.
“He did a nice job being violent at the point of contact on his tackles,” White said. “...He trusted his read, and then he went. … I think he played well for us down the stretch last year. I think Saturday was probably his best game, just because of how consistent he was in everything he did all the way through the game.
“Need another big-time performance like that this week.”
The challenge gets tougher for Afari and the rest of Kentucky’s defense Saturday against an Ole Miss team that led the country with 695 yards of offense in week one. While Afari now looks the part of SEC linebacker, he still needs to show his added muscle is enough to withstand the physical toll playing the position will take over a full season.
But it is clear Afari’s initial confusion about football has been Kentucky’s gain already.
“You can teach a football player his position, but you can’t teach a person to be a football player,” fellow linebacker Daveren Rayner said. “When you’re naturally just blessed with the abilities that some people have, like Alex, you’re going to be a really good football player.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM.
