The sounds of jittery, out-of-breath shouts, sideline pep-talks and crunching pads echoed inside one of the biggest stages in American football on Sunday.

Seventy Native American high school athletes were living the dream: playing at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as part of the fourth annual Native All-American football game.

Julian Senn, a high school senior, made the trip from Newberry, S.C. Other players arrived from faraway places too: 48 tribal nations from 21 U.S. states and Canada participated.

“I didn’t know none of these guys at first,” said Senn, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. “We met on Zoom meetings. Now, being able to play with them is awesome. Being on a big stage right now, don’t feel real.”

The Native American Athletic Foundation hosted the event.

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