08-04-2020, 12:51 AM
(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.
