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Tim Love Column: Brits in the NFLby Tim Love - BBC Sport (U11756775) 02 July 2008   As we have seen over the last week, the Brits love nothing more than having a home interest to support at Wimbledon. Indeed, the last decade has brought us yearly bouts of ‘Henmania’ on summer nights at SW19. The fact is that players are given a chance to compete; it is up to them to take their chance I spoke to Tony Allen this week, the Director of the NFL International Practice Squad program. The scheme is essentially an apprenticeship for non-US players and an opportunity for footballers to learn their trade alongside established NFL pros. Allen believes that a British presence in the NFL is simply a ‘matter of time’. Indeed, if the process to select players to take part in the program is as rigid as it sounds then the players entering the program should have the attributes which are absolutely neccessary in order to be an NFL player. The international scheme is similar is similar to the NFL Combine, albeit on a much smaller scale. This year, 100 athletes from around the world who had been identified either in the amateur game or plucked from other sports were given very similar testing protocol that many of this year’s NFL rookies will have been through at the Combine. For those lucky enough to come through the tests and mini-camps successfully and be selected to go to the US, it is then up to the player to show what they can do against their US counterparts. NFL UK Managing Director Alistair Kirkwood said that ‘developing British players to play in the NFL is one of the central pillars to grow the sport in the UK’ but that ‘both we and the players know that there is a lot more hard work to be done before we have players from the UK contributing on Sundays’. Realistically though, do these Brits have any chance whatsoever of competing in a regular season NFL game? Only time will tell if franchise owners and coaches really are ready to invest time in British protégés such as Marvin Allen Well, it is not easy for any player going out to the States and to contend with extraordinarily talented individuals who have been brought up in a football environment, but the scheme does provide players with an opportunity. In the past, it was incredibly difficult for international players to display their talents on a regular basis to NFL coaches. As Allen told me, the fact is that players are given a chance to compete; it is up to them to take their chance. One of the players benefiting from the system is Marvin Allen, Tony Allen’s son and a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. In discussion with Marvin about the program I got the impression that the players going out to the States really do believe they can compete in the NFL. Initially, I must confess to being slightly sceptical about the scheme and the intentions of the NFL in running it. Whilst I do believe it will be immensely difficult for many foreign players to breakthrough into the NFL, Allen correctly stressed that the franchises would not waste their time on players they did not believe could develop into NFL players (so far, two players have signed full contracts, six have signed futures contracts as a result on the scheme). Ultimately, franchises are businesses and players are there to play, although it would be naive to suggest that the NFL attempting to publically globalise the game does not play any part in the scheme taking place. As mentioned earlier, it is a lot easier for countries to embrace a sport when one of their own is playing. There are so many American players with an enormous head start on the international athletes that it will be immensely difficult for many foreign players to breakthrough into the NFL However, the fact that Allen has been requested by the Steelers is clearly a huge confidence boost and essentially a statement that the club believes in his abilities. Allen rated his chances of making it in the NFL as ‘realistically as good as any of the other free agents’, and believes that there are certainly players in the NFL who he can compete with. This level of confidence is a direct result of the program and having been surrounded by great players in a football environment. However, taking the step up from believing in your abilities to being given the chance to take the field of play on a Sunday is another matter, and only time will tell if franchise owners and coaches really are ready to invest time in British protégés such as Marvin Allen. So perhaps in five or six years in a London field on a cold February night, a big screen will be erected and fans from across the country will cheer on a British hero attempting to win his team the Super Bowl with a gutsy 85 yard TD pass in the last few seconds of play. Maybe I should go and dust off my pads after all… What do you think? Will we ever see a British presence in the NFL? Latest 10 commentsRead members' comments or add your own
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Stevie357 (U10799692)
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beardy (U2982376) posted Jul 10, 2008 the trouble is culture and size.
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throwlongnow (U12313407) posted Jul 11, 2008 While having a British player in the NFL would be great I'd really hope he wouldn't be a kicker - the traditional position for non-americans in the NFL. While we're amused by the media grabbing onto any UK link (Obamas mum - for instance)some of these tenuous links are just risable (playing for England cos one of your 4 grandparents had a joint British passport -for instance). To see what I mean look at the Tour De France where a cyclist whos raced for Kenya has now decided hes British and been welcomed with open arms by the Brit Cycling authorities. We need a proper Brit NFL player not someone claiming to be british so the NFL can say the Superbowls are an international championship
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Tim Love - BBC Sport (U11756775) posted Jul 11, 2008 throwlongnow- I agree fully on this point. I have always had a big problem with players changing nationalities, but more with the fact that Brits seems to latch on to anyone with a tenuous link to the country e.g. James Blake having an English mother. There just isn't any point!
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VoltairesCat (U2620617) posted Jul 12, 2008 Just to expand on throxlongnow and Tim's point on nationalities - what about Kolpac players in cricket and the fact that the Premier League is made up of 60 or 70% overseas players? Is it in the best interests of any sport to have such high numbers of overseas players in a given sport? Look at South Africa's performance yesterday for example. How many Kolpac players could be in the SA side? Northamptonshire was dubbed Kolpacshire the other week!
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SamAsfahani (U12604396) posted Jul 12, 2008 we have the same "POKs" applying for our university team, I know because I was one of them
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VoltairesCat (U2620617) posted Jul 13, 2008 SamAsfahani - I am glad to hear that you were able to make the shift and take yourself seriously to become an athlete. I mentor two lads. One is around 300lbs but is working on shifting fat for muscle. The other is quite underweight but has good athleticism. I give them credit for making life changes by their own volition, as you have done. Its guys like you that keeps us coaches going. All the best.
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VoltairesCat (U2620617) posted Jul 19, 2008 Here's a piece of news for you all...
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kal77uk (U1573807) posted Jul 26, 2008 For American football fans/players in the UK, not only do you have the chance to watch the NFL in the UK. You have your own national team, the Great Britain Lions, on your doorstep. We have a game lined up against France in November 2008. The selection camp for this squad takes place in August. If you think about it, there are many soccer players in the UK, yet only about 22 are good enough to play for England. The Lions is a great chance to represent your country. The European Championships are in 2010, so even if you start now you have a chance to establish yourself.
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AzureKnight (U12946594) posted Aug 9, 2008 I could be wrong and cannot for the life of me remeber his name but there was/is a WR on the Pats roster whose a Brit. Cant remeber his name and used to be on the CLaymores Comment on this article
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