A wave of foreign-developed NFL talent may actually be beginning

[wppete]

1 minute ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

People actually watch the NBA? 

Yea I don’t get it. NBA is the biggest joke in sports. 

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, wppete said:

Firts round draft pick George Karlaftis born and raised in Greece 🇬🇷. Is he the highest Foreign player to be drafted other than a Canadian? Great player, hate the Chiefs though. 
 

 

 

I really don't know who is the highest drafted foreign born and raised player but my first guess would be Ziggy Ansah #5 overall to Detroit.

 

[wppete]

3 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I really don't know who is the highest drafted foreign born and raised player but my first guess would be Ziggy Ansah #5 overall to Detroit.

 

Wow I didn’t know he went #5 overall. Great athlete had a lot of potential but injuries hurt him. That’s too bad. I remember when we were going after him in Free Agency a few years ago. 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Between China and India…there are more the 2 billion people, you would think we could find a right tackle there somewhere.

[ganesh]

8 minutes ago, ControllerOfPlanetX said:

Between China and India…there are more the 2 billion people, you would think we could find a right tackle there somewhere.

more close to 3B

[Aussie Joe]

18 minutes ago, ControllerOfPlanetX said:

Between China and India…there are more the 2 billion people, you would think we could find a right tackle there somewhere.

 

There are a lot of people of Chinese and Indian descent already in the US… many of their kids playing Football? 

[BBFL]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

 

There are a lot of people of Chinese and Indian descent already in the US… many of their kids playing Football? 

 

2 hours ago, ControllerOfPlanetX said:

Between China and India…there are more the 2 billion people, you would think we could find a right tackle there somewhere.

Ed Wang… 🥴

[hondo in seattle]

Here's a business idea...  Somebody should open special teams academies in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

 

It would be difficult to teach a kid from a third world to be a good QB, DB, etc. in a place where organized football doesn't exist or does exist but at some primitive level.  

 

But you could take the right athlete and train him to be a good enough kicker or punter (or long snapper) that he'd win a scholarship at an American university and then maybe later pursue a professional career.    

[Beast]

On 5/17/2023 at 2:49 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

The best young athletes will still play.  That will never change.

Yep.

We may see more non-contact youth leagues popping up but that may not even be a bad thing for development.

[T master]

The pipeline t the NFL has been open for a long time many players like Star L. & different players from Nigeria have been coming to the NFL for years the first i remember is the Nigerian Nightmare for the Chiefs so this is nothing new .

[Mynamemike]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:31 AM, BADOLBILZ said:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37668211/emmanuel-okoye-goes-nigeria-nfl-academy-vols-commit

 

There have been a lot of players coming from Africa and taking up football in the states...........but Osi Umeniyora is heavily involved in getting young players in development in Africa during their HS age years.    This kid Emmanuel Okoye is committing to an SEC school right out of the program.    This is significant, IMO.   As participation in football is declining at the youth level here in the US the NFL needs to start finding new pipelines so we don't start having drafts like the last one on the regular.    Hard to imagine an NBA without Giannis and Luka and Embiid.  

Good article.  I saw somewhere that for the first time that youth football in the states has less than a million kids playing total.  That number used to be close to triple that.  I don’t have kids but I’d have a hard time letting them play any earlier than high school level even though I played myself.

 

 I feel the game is much safer than when I played but knowing how fragile the brain is it’s tough to justify young kids playing tackle football.  I know a lot more flag football and 7 on 7 clubs are becoming more popular but I do feel the overall quality of the game will drop especially when it comes to offensive line play and tackling. 

 

Finding new pipelines will be crucial especially with how much the league wants to expand overseas

[C.Biscuit97]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:38 AM, PromoTheRobot said:

Same is true of hockey. Once youth programs started in Arizona and SoCal, kids from those programs are getting drafted into the NHL.

Growing up playing both sports, the biggest obstacle with hockey is money. It’s really expensive. Football is such a unique sport because it takes so many different type of athletes to play it. I also think the physical part of it will be a major wake up call to non rugby countries. I love football but Oklahoma drills in hot august is a form of torture. 
 

 

Just now, Mynamemike said:

Good article.  I saw somewhere that for the first time that youth football in the states has less than a million kids playing total.  That number used to be close to triple that.  I don’t have kids but I’d have a hard time letting them play any earlier than high school level even though I played myself.

 

 I feel the game is much safer than when I played but knowing how fragile the brain is it’s tough to justify young kids playing tackle football.  I know a lot more flag football and 7 on 7 clubs are becoming more popular but I do feel the overall quality of the game will drop especially when it comes to offensive line play and tackling. 

 

Finding new pipelines will be crucial especially with how much the league wants to expand overseas

Let’s be honest. We have a generation (I’m becoming a grumpy old man!) of soft, entitled wussies (wanted to use another word).  To become great at football, it is an absolute grind. More than any other sport, the mindset of a football is so different. You can’t fake it as much as you can in other sports.

[Mynamemike]

2 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Growing up playing both sports, the biggest obstacle with hockey is money. It’s really expensive. Football is such a unique sport because it takes so many different type of athletes to play it. I also think the physical part of it will be a major wake up call to non rugby countries. I love football but Oklahoma drills in hot august is a form of torture. 
 

 

Let’s be honest. We have a generation (I’m becoming a grumpy old man!) of soft, entitled wussies (wanted to use another word).  To become great at football, it is an absolute grind. More than any other sport, the mindset of a football is so different. You can’t fake it as much as you can in other sports.

I agree the kids are softer these days but honestly I put a lot of that on parents more so than the kids.  I think young boys in particular don’t have much concern for their own physical well-being growing up.
 

Again I don’t have kids of my own so it’s just my opinion from the outside looking in.  I know my friends coddle their kids so much so the kids are a reflection of that imo.   

[C.Biscuit97]

1 minute ago, Mynamemike said:

I agree the kids are softer these days but honestly I put a lot of that on parents more so than the kids.  I think young boys in particular don’t have much concern for their own physical well-being growing up.
 

Again I don’t have kids of my own so it’s just my opinion from the outside looking in.  I know my friends coddle their kids so much so the kids are a reflection of that imo.   

Good point. And I agree with you. Football has never been safer. I remember seeing stars and my coach being like, you just got your bell rung, you’re fine haha. 

[Mynamemike]

4 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Good point. And I agree with you. Football has never been safer. I remember seeing stars and my coach being like, you just got your bell rung, you’re fine haha. 

Lol ain’t that the truth.  It’s kinda wild looking back at those days.  Good times but I’m sure there was some damage done.

[Dan Darragh]

Need some big sumo guy weighing around 500lbs to come play defensive line for the Bills.

 

Come to think of it, put him on skates and let him play goalie.

[John from Riverside]

We’ve got some talents sitting right on our team that is being highly underutilized
 

Kingsley Jonathan give him more burn

[Rocky Landing]

On 5/17/2023 at 12:00 PM, HappyDays said:

On young people not choosing football as much, two Bills draft picks from this year alone - Kincaid and Shorter - mentioned in interviews that their mothers forbid them from playing football when they were young, so they were late entrants to the sport. So that is certainly much more common these days. I don't know what the solution is.

Youth flag football (pre-high school) has actually exploded in the last couple years. The NFL (along with their Play 60 program) has actually been doing a great job with this. Hopefully it translated to high school football programs.

[Poleshifter]

On 5/17/2023 at 12:03 PM, 17islongenough said:

So we should bring back Christian Wade?

Somewhere in all the Christian Wade analysis way back when, it was revealed that he needed to have all of his blockers behind him. They could not be in front of him, according to rugby rules.

 

That makes for a very difficult transition from rugby to football, at least for an offense player.

 

[JerseyBills]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:35 AM, SCBills said:

Would definitely be interesting.  

 

The best players in the NBA are now foreign born.. Jokic, Luka, Giannis, Embiid.  

 

San Antonio is walking on cloud nine today because they just got the best prospect since Lebron by winning the Draft Lottery.  French born Victor Wembanyama

 

Only concern I have with him is injuries.  The last big time hype player was Zion and look where he's at 4 years later

 

Thank God Allen and Diggs have avoided major injuries 

Edited May 21, 2023 by JerseyBills