https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/finlands-maple-league-set-to-kick-off-historic-post-covid-19-lockdown-season/

https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/afi-partners-with-sajl-for-exclusive-global-distribution-of-finnish-livestream-american-football-games/

So if you can't wait for football to begin in the  states here is another option! Finland! The season started this weekend but it continues for another month. It might not be good football but it's still football! Hope you enjoy!

Do they play American Football at the scholastic level in Finland? If so, I might give their league a look. If not, it will resemble every other experiment where people tried to "learn" the game, and failed..

(08-01-2020, 05:02 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Do they play American Football at the scholastic level in Finland?  If so, I might give their league a look.  If not, it will resemble every other experiment where people tried to "learn" the game, and failed..

They play like any other sport in Europe which is by Club! Now some clubs in europe have youth programs and such to develop young Talent. I'm not sure if Finland does that.
Make no mistake there is going to be a ton of European Talent coming through Europe in the next decade.

(08-01-2020, 06:00 PM)J24 Wrote: They play like any other sport in Europe which is by Club! Now some clubs in europe have youth programs and such to develop young Talent. I'm not sure if Finland does that.
Make no mistake there is going to be a ton of European Talent coming through Europe in the next decade.

That's fantastic to see.  I'm sure that many thought the same thing, when the NFL conducted the NFL Europe experiment.  How many European players actually made and flourished in the actual NFL?  (I'll wait around, while you compile that list..)

(08-01-2020, 06:22 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: That's fantastic to see.  I'm sure that many thought the same thing, when the NFL conducted the NFL Europe experiment.  How many European players actually made and flourished in the actual NFL?  (I'll wait around, while you compile that list..)

Are you talking about NFL Europe? That really wasn't about developing international talent but more about developing practice squad players.

Anyways there have been a couple of players that have succeed from the new international pathway program.  Panthers had one from England and New England had one from Germany who contributed last season.

Anyways the sport has grown since the 90s; The German & Austria league is growing along with the rest of Europe. Mexico finally has a professional league as well has a strong College & High School football tradition. Japan can say the same thing about their football.

(08-01-2020, 06:22 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: That's fantastic to see.  I'm sure that many thought the same thing, when the NFL conducted the NFL Europe experiment.  How many European players actually made and flourished in the actual NFL?  (I'll wait around, while you compile that list..)

There's two Austrian super bowl winners... albeit as kickers and it's quite a long time ago. There were quite a few European kickers back then.

More recently, there's Sebastian Vollmer, he sure did flourish. Margus Hunt was from Estonia. Jay Ajayi is Londoner.

The Bengals had Moritz Böhringer from Germany on the practice squad as their international development player since 2018. He was drafted by the Vikings in the 6th round 2016 but they cut him. It looks like his run with the Bengals is over as I just read they are cutting him. I was hoping he would make a starting lineup some day.

(08-03-2020, 06:30 AM)hollodero Wrote: There's two Austrian super bowl winners... albeit as kickers and it's quite a long time ago. There were quite a few European kickers back then.

More recently, there's Sebastian Vollmer, he sure did flourish. Margus Hunt was from Estonia. Jay Ajayi is Londoner.

There is one Austrian on the Giants Sandro Platzgummer who is a RB. He has been the best player in Europe for a while.. He might have a shot to make the roster!

(08-03-2020, 06:30 AM)hollodero Wrote: There's two Austrian super bowl winners... albeit as kickers and it's quite a long time ago. There were quite a few European kickers back then.

More recently, there's Sebastian Vollmer, he sure did flourish. Margus Hunt was from Estonia. Jay Ajayi is Londoner.

I had always been disappointed that more linemen hadn't come from Europe.  Europe has such a rich history of producing some of the strongest men in the World.  If they can pull a locomotive, they can for sure drive a mere human off the ball..

(08-03-2020, 05:52 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I had always been disappointed that more linemen hadn't come from Europe.  Europe has such a rich history of producing some of the strongest men in the World.  If they can pull a locomotive, they can for sure drive a mere human off the ball..

Same here.  Not just Europe, but all over the world.  The type of giant athletes that NFL teams crave are extremely rare.  I assumed there would be an influx of shot putters, weight lifters, strong man competitors, and wrestlers slowly trickling in from around the world by now.  But it hasn't really happened. 

I think 20% of NBA players are foreigners now, but the big difference is that they play basketball all over the world, while American Football is still kind of rare outside our country.

Ziggy Ansah is from some African country and he has had been a Pro Bowl player for the Lions.

Margus Hunt was never a star, but he is going into his 8th NFL season and has stared 25 games over the lest 3 years. 

Stacy Andrews was not from a foreign country, but he was a track & field athlete who never really played college football.  The Patriots won a couple of Super bowls with a starting O-lineman who was a wrestler in college (forget his name).  So it is not impossible to retrain guys from other sports if they are huge and athletic.

(08-03-2020, 05:01 PM)J24 Wrote: There is one Austrian on the Giants Sandro Platzgummer who is a RB. He has been the best player in Europe for a while..

I wouldn't go that far. He was exceptional in our league, and our league is one of Europe's best, but to call him Europe's best player still seems like a bit of a stretch.
Also, I am no good in evaluating talent, but in this case I am still pretty convinced he has no shot. That is due to his physical traits alone. That guy is built like a chicken and I just cannot see such a tender creature being fit for the NFL.

(08-03-2020, 08:29 PM)hollodero Wrote: I wouldn't go that far. He was exceptional in our league, and our league is one of Europe's best, but to call him Europe's best player still seems like a bit of a stretch.
Also, I am no good in evaluating talent, but in this case I am still pretty convinced he has no shot. That is due to his physical traits alone. That guy is built like a chicken and I just cannot see such a tender creature being fit for the NFL.

He has the physical skills to be a good player especially if he accepts being a Special Teamer/3rd down back. 

Also what separates Sandro from other international players is he has played his whole life vs  picking up after watching YouTube highlights or madden.

His biggest transition isn't his physique or ability but how he translates to the better competition. I would have liked to see him play in the XFL or Spring league to see if he could hang with NFL like talent before just going to the NFL.

(08-03-2020, 05:52 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I had always been disappointed that more linemen hadn't come from Europe.  Europe has such a rich history of producing some of the strongest men in the World.  If they can pull a locomotive, they can for sure drive a mere human off the ball..

"At Defensive Tackle, number 91, Magnus ver Magnusson!"

(08-03-2020, 05:52 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I had always been disappointed that more linemen hadn't come from Europe.  Europe has such a rich history of producing some of the strongest men in the World.  If they can pull a locomotive, they can for sure drive a mere human off the ball..

(08-03-2020, 06:58 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Same here.  Not just Europe, but all over the world.  The type of giant athletes that NFL teams crave are extremely rare.  I assumed there would be an influx of shot putters, weight lifters, strong man competitors, and wrestlers slowly trickling in from around the world by now.  But it hasn't really happened. 

I think 20% of NBA players are foreigners now, but the big difference is that they play basketball all over the world, while American Football is still kind of rare outside our country.

Ziggy Ansah is from some African country and he has had been a Pro Bowl player for the Lions.

Margus Hunt was never a star, but he is going into his 8th NFL season and has stared 25 games over the lest 3 years. 

Stacy Andrews was not from a foreign country, but he was a track & field athlete who never really played college football.  The Patriots won a couple of Super bowls with a starting O-lineman who was a wrestler in college (forget his name).  So it is not impossible to retrain guys from other sports if they are huge and athletic.

 The problem is they need to get those guys playing at a younger age instead of in their early 20s. 

There is talent in Europe but the leagues are just not that good and what's worse is that IFAF(the international federation of American Football) is so unorganized that their is really no way the top club teams to play each other.

The weird thing is the lack of Japanese and Mexican players in the NFL. Those countries play from middle school up to college. Both also have relatively strong pro leagues(especially Japan). You would think there would be a couple of players in the league from those countries. NFL should be scouting those area more.

Also to me this is the biggest problem with not having a developmental league. That would be a perfect place to develop these international guys.

(08-04-2020, 12:51 AM)J24 Wrote:  The problem is they need to get those guys playing at a younger age instead of in their early 20s. 

There is talent in Europe but the leagues are just not that good and what's worse is that IFAF(the international federation of American Football) is so unorganized that their is really no way the top club teams to play each other.

The weird thing is the lack of Japanese and Mexican players in the NFL. Those countries play from middle school up to college. Both also have relatively strong pro leagues(especially Japan). You would think there would be a couple of players in the league from those countries. NFL should be scouting those area more.

Also to me this is the biggest problem with not having a developmental league. That would be a perfect place to develop these international guys.

What's really weird is that Canada has had their own Pro Football League for 62 years, and how surprisingly few Canadian grown players make it in the NFL.

(08-04-2020, 06:52 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What's really weird is that Canada has had their own Pro Football League for 62 years, and how surprisingly few Canadian grown players make it in the NFL.

There were 13 players in the NFL from Canada last season. Compare that to the NBA were  there were 18 Canadians in it.  NBA is much smaller and Canadians haven't been playing Basketball all that long compared to Football.

So yeah it is a bit perplexing that there are not more Canadians in the league? I question why that is?
 Is it because Canadian Football is more different than the American kind that it makes it harder for Canadian players to adjust? Or is it because the NFL doesn't scout Canada enough?
 

(08-04-2020, 02:34 PM)J24 Wrote: There were 13 players in the NFL from Canada last season. Compare that to the NBA were  there were 18 Canadians in it.  NBA is much smaller and Canadians haven't been playing Basketball all that long compared to Football.

So yeah it is a bit perplexing that there are not more Canadians in the league? I question why that is?
 Is it because Canadian Football is more different than the American kind that it makes it harder for Canadian players to adjust? Or is it because the NFL doesn't scout Canada enough?
 

That's basically it; we play a different game up here.

It's also why some people have not been able to transition to the NFL from the CFL; competition is NOT the issue, they just can't play the southern game as well (which is perplexing to say the least).

(08-04-2020, 04:26 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: That's basically it; we play a different game up here.

It's also why some people have not been able to transition to the NFL from the CFL; competition is NOT the issue, they just can't play the southern game as well (which is perplexing to say the least).

I have two questions for you if you don't mind answering. I'm not trying to be a jackass in anyway so if it comes out that way my bad.

1.) Do you like the Canadian rules better vs American?

2.) Would you be against Making the rules universal between the two footballs?

(08-12-2020, 02:27 PM)J24 Wrote: I have two questions for you if you don't mind answering. I'm not trying to be a jackass in anyway so if it comes out that way my bad.

1.) Do you like the Canadian rules better vs American?

2.) Would you be against Making the rules universal between the two footballs?

Oh no, nothing wrong with your questions at all! lol

I like 11 players and a smaller ball, but I also like a bigger field and bigger endzones.

I LOVE Rouges and the crazy kicking rules that the CFL has, but I also love that the uprights at the end of the endzone and that you aren't allowed to run up to the line, in the NFL.

Basically, I like the rules of both sports lol.

CFL is crazy and fun to watch, but 3 downs makes for less-offense and less running (normally), which doesn't necessarily mean more defense either; it is an infinitely harder game, IMO than the NFL, despite the core rules and platform, being the same.

Thus, I would have no issues making the rules universal, but it would have to be a hybrid and not one or the other; so Grey (absolutely pun intended) and not Black or White.

I'm also a fan of the bigger size, in the NFL; Dunlap would typically be a NT in the CFL at his size and arguably the best C in league history, was 6'2, 290; not significantly smaller, but would definitely get eaten up in the NFL.

How Matt O'Donnell has lasted this long at this high a level, I have no clue: I guess he truly is an outstanding athlete, 'cause he would be the biggest player in NFL history, had he stuck on our roster.

(08-12-2020, 04:46 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Oh no, nothing wrong with your questions at all! lol

I like 11 players and a smaller ball, but I also like a bigger field and bigger endzones.

I LOVE Rouges and the crazy kicking rules that the CFL has, but I also love that the uprights at the end of the endzone and that you aren't allowed to run up to the line, in the NFL.

Basically, I like the rules of both sports lol.

CFL is crazy and fun to watch, but 3 downs makes for less-offense and less running (normally), which doesn't necessarily mean more defense either; it is an infinitely harder game, IMO than the NFL, despite the core rules and platform, being the same.

Thus, I would have no issues making the rules universal, but it would have to be a hybrid and not one or the other; so Grey (absolutely pun intended) and not Black or White.

I'm also a fan of the bigger size, in the NFL; Dunlap would typically be a NT in the CFL at his size and arguably the best C in league history, was 6'2, 290; not significantly smaller, but would definitely get eaten up in the NFL.

How Matt O'Donnell has lasted this long at this high a level, I have no clue: I guess he truly is an outstanding athlete, 'cause he would be the biggest player in NFL history, had he stuck on our roster.

I agree that the differences are what make things interesting.  I was actually liking some of the rule differences I was seeing in the XFL, in it's short stint, this Spring.  They got purchased, so hopefully they make another go at it.