The rosters of teams in the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball have all become quite international by now. Not so the National Football League. This isn’t very surprising, since American football is barely played outside of the U.S. and Canada, while the other sports are.
But the N.F.L., which dreams of expansion the way most of us breathe the air, has a plan to change this. I have to say, it is a pretty clever plan: as detailed in this fascinating article by Oakley Brooks in today’s New York Times, the N.F.L. is grooming three young Chinese athletes to become placekickers for N.F.L. teams. China, after all, is a gigantic market, but it doesn’t care much yet about American football. How better to spur interest than to put a few of its own in shoulder pads?
Two of the kicking hopefuls are soccer players; the third plays rugby. The N.F.L.’s task isn’t so much an unimaginable one — there have been plenty of foreign-born kickers in the league — as it is devoutly realistic: it is hard to imagine plucking a random big guy from Serbia or Nigeria and turning him into a linebacker in the matter of a few weeks, but kicking is quite a bit different.
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What better Americanized names to give them but William, Sean and RAMBO!
What better Americanized names to give them but William, Sean and RAMBO!
This seems a bit ridiculous; every college kicker (d2 included) in America, and nearly every semipro kicker, could hit from the 47-48 mentioned in the article, and pulling up short from 40 while indoors in inexcusable. It’s been a couple years since I (punted) semipro, but even now I could hit the vast, vast majority of 40 yard shots while wearing a pair of running shoes!
The NFL is pushing the China market very hard, but it’s a long uphill battle. Basketball and soccer have been popular in China since before Mao. Football is unheard of.
This seems a bit ridiculous; every college kicker (d2 included) in America, and nearly every semipro kicker, could hit from the 47-48 mentioned in the article, and pulling up short from 40 while indoors in inexcusable. It’s been a couple years since I (punted) semipro, but even now I could hit the vast, vast majority of 40 yard shots while wearing a pair of running shoes!
The NFL is pushing the China market very hard, but it’s a long uphill battle. Basketball and soccer have been popular in China since before Mao. Football is unheard of.
American Football will not become popular anywhere outside the United States. You need far too much equipment to play and equipment is expensive, which eliminates all poor countries. In the rich countries other sports are already far to dominant to be outcompeted.
American Football will not become popular anywhere outside the United States. You need far too much equipment to play and equipment is expensive, which eliminates all poor countries. In the rich countries other sports are already far to dominant to be outcompeted.
This is great marketing, but I’m sure this is not going over very well from the coachs’ perspective. Bill Belichick and Mike Holmgrem are already unhappy that they have to pick up in the middle of pre-season and fly half-way across the world to play an exhibition game. Now they are being told they have to suit up someone who has hardly even watched football let alone played it?
The NFL says they are leaving the final decision of whether or not to play these guys with the coaches, but you have to think there is going to be a lot of pressure for them to get out on the field.
This is great marketing, but I’m sure this is not going over very well from the coachs’ perspective. Bill Belichick and Mike Holmgrem are already unhappy that they have to pick up in the middle of pre-season and fly half-way across the world to play an exhibition game. Now they are being told they have to suit up someone who has hardly even watched football let alone played it?
The NFL says they are leaving the final decision of whether or not to play these guys with the coaches, but you have to think there is going to be a lot of pressure for them to get out on the field.