Mike
Florio of NBCSports reports that a new rugby league is forming and it wants
NFL players. For the soon to be National
Rugby Football League, this is a bad idea.
I am all for a national rugby league here in the United States. It is an untapped market and once people
understand the game they will be drawn into its fast pace and ferocious
hitting. However, filling the teams with
NFL cast-offs is the wrong way to go.
Making the transition from one football code to another when it is NFL to rugby would be extremely difficult. From rugby to NFL would be less so and Colts practice squad linebacker, Daniel Adongo can attest to that. The former African rugby player from Kenya is currently on the Colts practice squad but once he gets his NFL football legs he will be crushing quarterbacks in no time.
There is only a very short list of relatively no name NFL and NCAA football players (six) who have attempted to transfer from the NFL football code to rugby union or rugby league play. Of those six, only three, Leonard Peters, Bennie Brazell and Manfred Moore, even tasted life in the NFL.
Why is it so difficult? Here is my take.
Rugby is played without any protective equipment with the exception of a mouth guard. The hitting is fierce and the game is fast. As such, a rugby player must have perfect tackling and hitting technique at all times, there can be no taking a second off. In fact, rugby players must be technically sound in all phases of the game. NFL players tend to be sloppy in their technique, especially tackling.
A Rugby player is always in motion. Rugby is a fast-paced nonstop game. There are no television timeouts for water breaks or first down markers to be moved and there are no moments to get married when there is a play to be reviewed like in the NFL. Rugby is mobile. NFL is immobility.
NFL players would be hard pressed to adapt to playing fundamentally sound nonstop rugby when their whole lives they have been made to nosh on the stops and go’s of American football.
Finally, rugby players have a different attitude than most NFL players. There are no “me” rugby players (sorry Santonio Holmes). Moreover, when the match is over it is pints in the parking lot not martinis and Cristal in the club.
I am not saying that all practice squad players or college graduates who are not drafted could not make it in a rugby league. A select few that could spend a few years to make the transition and produce quality play would be a benefit to the league. However, the NRFL is dreaming if they think they can start a league with NFL hopefuls and have it be what the true American rugby public want. The play would be unwatchable and the league would end up like the USFL.
Keep in mind that the NRFL has tried to partner with the NFL to start its league. Attempting to hold workouts in their stadiums and using the NFL network for its launching pad. Big mistake. Those deals may be on the back burner, for now. Do not get in bed with the NFL. Please NRFL, start your own family. There is a reason why the countless rugby groups across America stay regional, lack of financial support and there is a reason why they would never partner with the NFL, integrity of the game.
Where should the NRFL go then to scout players? Take a few from the leagues in Europe to start then move to the college ranks (there are many great schools with excellent rugby programs) and then begin going to all the U.S. towns and cities who have local rugby clubs, leagues and organizations such as the New England Rugby Football Union. This is where the true rugby player lives and the rugby player you want to watch when the match begins. Partner with local and regional organizations like NERFU and move this great sport forward this way.
To get this sport going in the U.S., as the NRFL wants to, stay true to the games roots and do not mix rugby water with the NFL oil. For that, we get nothing.
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Follow @TheNFLInjuryRpt
Making the transition from one football code to another when it is NFL to rugby would be extremely difficult. From rugby to NFL would be less so and Colts practice squad linebacker, Daniel Adongo can attest to that. The former African rugby player from Kenya is currently on the Colts practice squad but once he gets his NFL football legs he will be crushing quarterbacks in no time.
There is only a very short list of relatively no name NFL and NCAA football players (six) who have attempted to transfer from the NFL football code to rugby union or rugby league play. Of those six, only three, Leonard Peters, Bennie Brazell and Manfred Moore, even tasted life in the NFL.
Why is it so difficult? Here is my take.
Rugby is played without any protective equipment with the exception of a mouth guard. The hitting is fierce and the game is fast. As such, a rugby player must have perfect tackling and hitting technique at all times, there can be no taking a second off. In fact, rugby players must be technically sound in all phases of the game. NFL players tend to be sloppy in their technique, especially tackling.
A Rugby player is always in motion. Rugby is a fast-paced nonstop game. There are no television timeouts for water breaks or first down markers to be moved and there are no moments to get married when there is a play to be reviewed like in the NFL. Rugby is mobile. NFL is immobility.
NFL players would be hard pressed to adapt to playing fundamentally sound nonstop rugby when their whole lives they have been made to nosh on the stops and go’s of American football.
Finally, rugby players have a different attitude than most NFL players. There are no “me” rugby players (sorry Santonio Holmes). Moreover, when the match is over it is pints in the parking lot not martinis and Cristal in the club.
I am not saying that all practice squad players or college graduates who are not drafted could not make it in a rugby league. A select few that could spend a few years to make the transition and produce quality play would be a benefit to the league. However, the NRFL is dreaming if they think they can start a league with NFL hopefuls and have it be what the true American rugby public want. The play would be unwatchable and the league would end up like the USFL.
Keep in mind that the NRFL has tried to partner with the NFL to start its league. Attempting to hold workouts in their stadiums and using the NFL network for its launching pad. Big mistake. Those deals may be on the back burner, for now. Do not get in bed with the NFL. Please NRFL, start your own family. There is a reason why the countless rugby groups across America stay regional, lack of financial support and there is a reason why they would never partner with the NFL, integrity of the game.
Where should the NRFL go then to scout players? Take a few from the leagues in Europe to start then move to the college ranks (there are many great schools with excellent rugby programs) and then begin going to all the U.S. towns and cities who have local rugby clubs, leagues and organizations such as the New England Rugby Football Union. This is where the true rugby player lives and the rugby player you want to watch when the match begins. Partner with local and regional organizations like NERFU and move this great sport forward this way.
To get this sport going in the U.S., as the NRFL wants to, stay true to the games roots and do not mix rugby water with the NFL oil. For that, we get nothing.
Twitter @TheSoftParade69
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