Marlin Klein left Germany as a teenager to chase football in the United States, moving to the Georgia mountains and learning the game while not yet fluent in English. Now the Michigan tight end is expected to be drafted Friday or Saturday, a turn that would cap a journey he began at 15.
Klein said he gave up his old life for the chance, leaving behind soccer and basketball, along with family and friends, to pursue a sport he barely knew. The language barrier was real in his first year, and Google Translate became a constant companion as he tried to keep up with teammates and coaches.
“I think it was harder on my family than it was for me,” Klein said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “I was looking forward to something. I was getting myself into something new and chasing my dream of playing football.” He added that when he told his parents at 15 that he wanted to come to the U.S., “it was tough.”
In high school, a coach in Georgia held Klein to the same rigorous standards as his American teammates, forcing him to learn fast. Klein said that first-year relationship with Google Translate was constant. “It was my best friend for the first year,” he said. “It was quite the relationship.”
The payoff reached Michigan, where Klein earned a scholarship and developed into a productive tight end over 12 career starts. He finished with 38 catches for 364 yards and one touchdown catch, a line that has made him a likely draft pick this weekend.
If his name is called, Klein could become the third Wolverines tight end taken in as many years. A.J. Barner went in the fourth round in 2024, and Colston Loveland was selected at No. 10 overall last year. That run underscores how quickly Michigan has become a pipeline at the position.
Klein’s path also fits a wider shift in the league, which has worked to bring in more international talent through programs such as the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. Jordan Mailata remains the clearest example of how far that route can go, while the league keeps widening its reach overseas with games and markets from Germany to London, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Munich, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. The Indianapolis Colts have played in Germany twice recently, and next season’s schedule includes three games in London.
For Klein, though, the story is still rooted in the leap he made as a boy: one flight, one new language, one dream that carried him from Germany to the edge of the NFL.
