FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- When Kyle Hinton was in his early teens, he looked at high school football in the United States as something almost unattainable. Hinton had played youth football in the U.S., but then he and his family moved to Germany while his father, Curt, was stationed there with the Army.
Hinton played football in Bavaria for Vilseck High School, which is part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) program. Hinton and his team would play against teams from other U.S. military bases across Europe. The shortest bus ride to a game, Hinton said, was four hours.
Football in the states felt like a million miles away.
"I remember when I was there, it was sports in general," Hinton told ESPN. "When you think about it, we were just like, 'Oh, he played in the States?' It's a different brand of football over there. It had such a higher level."
There's no level higher than the NFL, and that's where Hinton is now. He'll make his return to Germany for the first time since he was a teenager Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons, who play the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin (9:30 a.m., NFL Network).
Hinton, a reserve offensive lineman, has started only one game as a pro. His second start will be in the country he once called home, filling in for the injured Matthew Bergeron (ankle) at left guard.
"It's definitely weird how it all comes around, but for me, I can't get too much into the sentimental and stuff like that," Hinton said. "It is a different circumstance. I'm going into it ... like a business trip, and it just so happens to be in a place that I used to live in."
Hinton is one of just three NFL players who were once part of the DODEA program. Zavier Scott, a running back with the Minnesota Vikings, actually also played for Vilseck, though he was a few years after Hinton. Still, it's remarkable that two players who played high school football in Bavaria, of all places, have made the league.
"[The] odds of that are probably the closest thing you can get to impossible," Scott said.
Scott said for two years straight his Vilseck team took a 16-hour road trip and then slept on the opposing team's gym floor. It was definitely not the typical high school football experience. The only other player in the league who was part of DODEA is Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who played in Italy.
For Hinton, his family moved to Arizona and he played his final two years of high school there. He was not highly recruited. Hinton ended up at Division II Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. But the 6-foot-2, 315-pound offensive lineman was good enough there to get drafted in the seventh round by the Vikings in 2020.
Hinton, 27, has been with the Falcons since 2023 and has been an important role player.
"I look at Kyle Hinton as being a starter," Falcons offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford said in September. "I don't really look at him as a backup. I see him as a starter. He's played a lot of meaningful games. He's done really well in there."
And now he will indeed be asked to start, in a country that is an indelible part of his football journey. Hinton said several of his coaches from Vilseck and other friends who live in Germany will be in attendance inside the legendary Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
"I haven't seen them in about 10-plus years, so they're all super excited," Hinton said. "And they're excited to see me play."
NFL Nation Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert contributed to this story.