LONDON (AP) — Rafael Varona Blakstad had only asked for directions on campus. The guy wearing NFL Academy gear surprised the London native with his answer. “He said ‘Have you ever played football?’ in the most American accent I’ve ever heard.
I was kind of hooked from there,” said Varona Blakstad, who left a prominent rugby club to become a wide receiver. The teenager and his mom had been visiting Loughborough University, where the NFL Academy is based. The guy they bumped into was Lamonte Winston, head of the academy.
Germans and Swedes typically comprise most of the top European prospects for American college football, but the U.K. talent is gaining momentum.
The NFL academy, which opened in 2019, has been sharpening its local recruitment and the results are starting to show with several recent graduates now playing for Power Four conference schools. “The British kids are getting there,” Winston said. “Soccer and rugby are king.
It's not the norm over here for kids to play multiple sports. You play one sport — that’s it." That's why it was such a surprise when Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit switched to American football and joined the NFL's international player pathway program.
The 23-year-old Rees-Zammit was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs but didn't make their 53-man roster. He then joined the Jacksonville Jaguars to be on the team's practice squad as a wide receiver. The Jags come to London this week and play the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The ac.