Australian Rugby League Star Jarryd Hayne Chases Dream To Play In The NFL

One of the biggest names in Australian sport has today walked away from a million dollar contract to chase his dream of playing in the NFL.

Its a huge task obviously, he has never played American Football before, but he is an outstanding athlete.

I wrote a little bit about the issues he will face transitioning from Rugby League to American Football on my web site: http://www.leaguefreak.com/my-thoug...ision-to-leave-rugby-league-for-the-nfl-8050/

I've been chatting to a lot of people today about his decision. Many of whom have no idea about the NFL. I think he is up against so much other talent that HAVE played the game before...I just can't see any club even thinking of taking a chance on him. Especially considering he is 27 years old.

He is looking at becoming a running back. I think he would be handy to pass to in the back field and allow him to use his natural broken field running to make something happen, but he has to overcome a thousand obstacles before a team even given him that opportunity in practice!

Anyway its a big decision and good luck to him. Thought I'd mention it in here because it will be an interesting story one way or the other.

 

I dont but into the idea that the athletes are better in the NFL. They are just different. You might get that rare athlete thats a cut above the best, that Lebron sort of level athlete, but for the most part I think the best athletes from the NFL and NRL would be as good as one another given the same circumstances.

The way I look at it is this. If a top NFL player at the age of 27 decided he was going to try his hand at playing in the NRL, he would have the same struggles Hayne will have going the other way.

Learning the game is something you just can't do over a couple of years. Changing his attacking or defensive instincts will take time. Changing physically for the demands of the sport. Even after all of that there is then the prospect of beating out a hundred other players that have prepared to play in the NFL over their entire lives.

Its a giant ask, and if he even gets a start on a practice squad he will be going well.

 

What's your user name on twitter champ. I'll add you. And yeah...I'm a bit of an animal on Twitter. :grin:

 

I think the athletic side, he will be fine. I would be concerned that if he isn't using the same sort of supplements *cough cough* as others it will put him on the back foot a little. He's a great athlete tho so he should be ok.

His big problem will be translating his athletic ability and skill set into a game he hasn't played before and hasn't got that lifetime of accumulated knowledge about.

As I wrote, a top of the line NFL athlete would have that same issue if they decided they wanted to play in the NRL too.

Either way, it will be fun watching how it all plays out. Hayne is a great athlete, and he probably isn't even the best athlete in the NRL. There are a bunch of NRL players at that elite level.

 

I tend to think he is either going to "make it" quickly, and end up on an NFL roster, or he will be back with the Parramarra Eels. I don't see him even thinking about the CFL where ironically I think he would learn the game and make great use of the extra field space there.

He walked away from at least a $1 million deal at the Eels. It probably would have been closer to $2 million had he taken the NRL offer to not leave to try and play in the NFL. It's a lot of money to give up to potentially earn nothing over the next two or three years just trying to get a foot in the door with an NFL team even as a practice squad member.

 

Not Australian rules is completely different.

There are two forms of Rugby.

Rugby Union, which tends to be slower and stops a lot, and Rugby League which is faster, fee flowing and tends to be the better sport to watch.

If you want to see where Hayne comes from search for NRL on YouTube. That's Rugby League. You'll love it!

 

I've been an NFL fan for a long time, and while no doubt NFL fans enjoy the game, very few people in Aus know anything about the game.


The media attention over Haynes decision is because he is a high profile player. It's the same thing that happens when we have seen other sportsmen switch sports here.

Rugby League players tend to be able to switch to other sports and be very good at them. I think the game just tends to turn out great all round athletes because of the nature of it.

 

No NRL player has ever attempted to switch to the NFL. They do have the athletic ability to do it. No doubt about that.