tannenballs 26 Posted June 21 While watching the NBA draft it was surprising to see how many international prospects there are. While the NFL is slowly picking up with the international pathway program (including 2 draft picks in Mo Boehringer and Jordan Mailata). However, the NFL is very far behind both the NBA and MLB when it comes to international players. Do you think they will ever bridge the gap? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forge 9,862 Posted June 21 2 minutes ago, tannenballs said: While watching the NBA draft it was surprising to see how many international prospects there are. While the NFL is slowly picking up with the international pathway program (including 2 draft picks in Mo Boehringer and Jordan Mailata). However, the NFL is very far behind both the NBA and MLB when it comes to international players. Do you think they will ever bridge the gap? It's going to take a loooooooooong time in my opinion. It just doesn't have the foothold internationally that those other sports do. I think that there may be a country or two that starts to consistently get people over here on an annual basis (Australia is probably the one that most comes to mind), but I don't think it'll be anytime soon when another country is actually consistently producing draft prospects the way they do in the other three sports. I just don't think the infrastructure for football programs is there to develop players like that at this point. I think that they by and large still need to come to the US, play college here, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thomas5737 3,860 Posted June 21 Not until American football becomes an international sport like baseball or basketball. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ReadyToThump 395 Posted June 21 (edited) Most of you probably have no clue but the Packers have a player from South Africa on their squad and he has the best name in the league: https://www.packers.com/team/players-roster/gerhard-de-beer/ Edited June 21 by ReadyToThump Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ET80 9,191 Posted June 21 I mean, maybe Canada can start to turn out players? They play at a very competitive level. A lot of rule differences, but fundamentally the same game up North. Outside of that, I highly doubt football will ever achieve the same popularity as basketball or baseball. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwibrown 4,220 Posted June 21 Rugby and league dont easily translate to football or vice versa. As an athlete to achieve at the top level you have to optimize your body to the demands of the sport. The cardiovascular demands of football and rugby and league are all different from each other. Football demands short bursts of speed repeatedly, while rugby and league require constant running for 80 minutes. Soccer wouldnt equip people for the contact required for football, and their bodies are too small. Cricket nope. Jordan mailata is a natural tackle, his body isnt optimal for league, big guys arent optimal for league to high a work rate required and too many shots under the ribs. For every mailata playing top level league there are another 1000 guys who aren't optimal for the sport. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Superman(DH23) 1,388 Posted June 21 There are quite a few Nigerian born players whose families migrated west and they developed here. Maybe that's something the NFL should look into, similar to what MLB has done in the DR. Createna training facility and put money into developing young athletes who could be stars here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johndeere1707 642 Posted June 21 I’ve always wondered why NFL teams don’t try and nab some Sumo Wrestler and make him an offensive lineman like in the movie The Replacements Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tannenballs 26 Posted June 21 7 hours ago, ET80 said: I mean, maybe Canada can start to turn out players? They play at a very competitive level. A lot of rule differences, but fundamentally the same game up North. Outside of that, I highly doubt football will ever achieve the same popularity as basketball or baseball. The East West Shrine game usually has a couple Canadian college prospects. This year, Matthieu Betts signed with the Bears. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tannenballs 26 Posted June 21 Is LDT for the Chiefs the only international player that starts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TedLavie 1,247 Posted June 21 (American) football is not well known outside of the US, the rules are complicated and the fact that there are so many pauses between plays make it hard for people who don't know anything about it to just turn on the TV and watch, even if the NFL was aired nationally. From my experience, the only way for someone to appreciate football is to have someone with knowledge of the sport next to them to explain them every single play. From that standpoint, you can't expect NFL to have a similar success (audience and participation, which are somewhat linked) than basketball in Europe or baseball in Latin America/Asia. NFL can of course grow globally, and that's what they're doing in the UK currently. But it's very very unlikely that football ever becomes as big as basketball in continental Europe, just from a cultural standpoint. I'm guessing it's the same thing for other countries in other parts of the world Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
24isthelaw 27 Posted June 21 Not only is there substantially more basketball participation abroad.... look at WHICH NBA players are internationals. The pool of NBA players that skews highly cosmopolitan is.... the 7 footers. Seems like half the young bigs are from overseas. Towns, Embiid, Porzingis, Jokic etc. AKA the kids who, no matter what country they are in, will be funneled into basketball as teens. Meanwhile, the guards are almost all American-born. Basketball talent comes from all over the world because basketball talent self-sorts. It's universal that if you're tall as ****, you try basketball. American football (and most other sports) don't self-sort like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RaidersAreOne 3,652 Posted June 21 12 hours ago, ET80 said: I mean, maybe Canada can start to turn out players? They play at a very competitive level. A lot of rule differences, but fundamentally the same game up North. Outside of that, I highly doubt football will ever achieve the same popularity as basketball or baseball. There's been a few but nothing to write home about. As far as actual Canadians at least. We do have a bunch of American players come here which we develop and then they bolt to the NFL understandably. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
candyman93 3,750 Posted June 21 I don’t understand why Canada hasn’t funneled players to America yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ET80 9,191 Posted June 21 5 hours ago, johndeere1707 said: I’ve always wondered why NFL teams don’t try and nab some Sumo Wrestler and make him an offensive lineman like in the movie The Replacements From what I've been told - Sumo wrestlers in Japan are like demigods, they're basically royalty out there. Why leave that sort of setup? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
