International Player Pathway

NFL Undiscovered

Two British-born former NFL players Aden Durde (NFLUK head of football development) and two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora were concerned that there were no clear pathways into the NFL for players who had not gone to high-school and/or college in the United States, and, as a result, the NFL was potentially missing out on some exceptional players. Wanting to remedy this, in early 2016, they used their personal and professional contracts from their time in the NFL to create a training program and to set-up meetings and try-outs with NFL teams for a small number of specially selected football players. These players' potential had been scouted primarily by watching YouTube videos.[7] The initial group of players all lived, worked and played amateur football in Europe. At the time, the program was not yet officially named the International Player Pathway, but it was fully sanctioned and supported by the NFL. Additionally, the League had commissioned a mini-series documentary to be made, called NFL Undiscovered, that followed the participants of the program.

International Player Pathway

In 2017 the IPP was implemented with systems for choosing which division sponsors the program annually, as well as special regulations applying to the teams being assigned the players. The program has grown every year since its launch and, as of 2020, more than half (19 of 32) of all NFL teams have signed international players as a direct result of the program.

Athlete eligibility and application

In 2017, potential applicants to NFL Undiscovered were asked to meet specific requirements and advised to follow a particular application process. These conditions were published widely through the media[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] when they were released and are reproduced below, though these have either changed over time or there is some discretion applied during the selection process as not all the athletes that have come through the program in the intervening years meet all these criteria.

NFL's Athlete eligibility for IPP

• be aged 24 or under
• have been out of high school (or equivalent) for at least four years
• cannot have played American football at a US college
• having experience of playing American football is desirable but not essential
• English language is essential because of the short timeframe being worked to
• US and Canadian citizens are not eligible
• Applicants must be available and eligible to travel to the US for two months from the first week in March

Applicants were asked to submit (by midnight UK time on the first Sunday in March) the following material via email to nfl.undiscovered at the NFL:

NFL's Application guidelines for IPP

• Film of the applicant undertaking
  • vertical jump
  • box jump
  • timed 40-yard dash
• Links to any relevant footage – e.g. workouts, football film or other sports footage
• Details of age, height and weight
• Full contact details.

Roster regulations

The NFL has specific regulations for players that sign through the IPP. The teams to which each IPP player is assigned are allowed 91 players[16] on their off-season rosters, one more than those teams that are not participating in the IPP that year. At the point when these rosters need to be cut to 53 (at the end of pre-season), the participating teams have several options open to them;[17][18][19]

1. assign their IPP player to their 53-man roster
   • the team can only have the usual 10-man practice squad
2. assign their IPP player to their practice squad utilising the IPP exemption
   • like all players, the IPP player must first clear waivers (where he could be claimed by another team) before being assigned to the practice squad
   • the team can have an 11-man practice squad
   • the player cannot be called up to the 53-man roster that season but also cannot be claimed by another club
3. assign their IPP player to their practice squad without utilising the IPP exemption
   • like all players, the IPP player must first clear waivers
   • the team can only have a regular 10-man practice squad
   • the player is a regular member of the practice squad so can be called up to the 53-man roster and can also be claimed by another club
4. cut their IPP player after clearing waivers
   • the IPP player could be signed to another team's practice squad but they won't get the 11th man exemption for him

History

The IPP began in 2017, when four players (Alex Gray, Alex Jenkins, Efe Obada, and Eric Nzeocha) signed for NFL teams.[20][21][22] The program was extended in 2018,[23] and continued in 2019.[24][25][26][27]

Summary of program and participants' achievements

Players who have participated in NFL Undiscovered and the NFL International Player Pathway program

#	Player	Nationality	Age entering program	Previous sport(s)	NFL season	Sponsoring NFL division	NFL team signed to	Football position	Resulting contract(s)
1	Anthony Dablé [28]	France	27	Football	2016	N/A NFL Undiscovered	New York Giants	Wide Receiver	2016 – signed as a free agent then released during final roster cuts[29] first player signed in the NFL from NFL Undiscovered 2017 – signed with Atlanta Falcons and again released at the end of pre-season[30]
2	Harry Innis	UK	20	Football			–	Tight End	–[31]
3	Moritz Böhringer [32]	Germany	22	Football			Minnesota Vikings	Wide Receiver	2016 – drafted (R6#180) spent season on 10-man practice squad, first player drafted in the NFL from NFL Undiscovered[33] 2017 – waived by Vikings in September[34]
4	Alex Gray[35]	UK	25	Rugby Union	2017	NFC South	Atlanta Falcons	Tight End	2017 – 11th member of practice squad 2018 – signed to practice squad 2019 – on 2-year futures contract to 2020[36]
5	Alex Jenkins[37]	UK	23	Football			New Orleans Saints	Defensive End	2017 – 11th member of practice squad 2018 – reserve/futures contract in January and to practice squad[38]
6	Eric Nzeocha[39]	Germany	23	Football			Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Linebacker	2017 – 11th member of practice squad 2018 – reserve/futures contract in January and to practice squad[40]
7	Efe Obada[41]	UK	24	Football			Carolina Panthers	Defensive End	2017 – 11th member of practice squad 2018 – reserve/futures contract in January and to practice squad, first player to make an NFL 53-man active roster from IPP and play in a regular season game (Sep-23-2018 versus Cincinnati)[42][43] 2019 – signed 1-year contract[44]
3	Moritz Böhringer [45]	Germany	24	Football	2018	AFC North	Cincinnati Bengals	Tight End	2018 – 11th member of practice squad and reserve/futures contract 2019 – again assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt)[46][47]
8	Christopher Ezeala [48]	Germany	22	Football			Baltimore Ravens	Running Back	2018 – 11th member of practice squad 2019 – re-signed[49]
9	Jordan Mailata [50]	Australia	20	Rugby League			Philadelphia Eagles	Offensive Tackle	2018 – drafted 2018 (R7#233) first player drafted in the NFL from IPP signed 4-year contract, spent season on 53-man roster, injured reserve in December[51] 2019 –
10	Tigie Sankoh [52]	UK	20	Football			Cleveland Browns	Defensive Back	2018 – 11th member of practice squad 2019 – signed to reserve/futures list in January[53][54]
11	Christian Scotland-Williamson[55]	UK	24	Rugby Union			Pittsburgh Steelers	Tight End	2018 – 11th member of practice squad, terminated in September[56] 2019 – re-signed[57]
12	David Bada	Germany	23	Football	2019	AFC East	–	Defensive End	–
13	Moubarak Djeri [58]	Germany	23	Football			–	Defensive End	–
14	Valentine Holmes [59]	Australia	23	Rugby League			New York Jets	Running Back	2019 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt) and released at the end of the season.[60] Returned to Australia and NRL to play for Queensland Cowboys[61]
15	Jakob Johnson [62]	Germany	24	Football			New England Patriots	Fullback	2019 – signed to 10-man practice squad then promoted to 53-man roster, first IPP player in 2019 class to be activated and play in a regular season game (Sep-22-2019 versus Jets)[63][64] then put on injured reserve list 2020 –[65]
16	Durval Queiroz Neto [66]	Brazil	26	Football			Miami Dolphins	Defensive Tackle	2019 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt) 2020 – signed futures contract[67]
17	Máximo González Sánchez	Mexico	23	Football			–	Linebacker	–
18	Christian Wade [68]	UK	27	Rugby Union			Buffalo Bills	Running Back	2019 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt) 2020 – signed reserve/future contract[69]
19	Isaac Alarcón	Mexico	21	Football	2020	NFC East	Dallas Cowboys	Tackle	2020 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt)[70]
20	Otávio Amorim	Brazil	TBC	Football			–	TBC	–[71]
12	David Bada	Germany	24	Football			Washington Redskins	Defensive End	2020 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt)[72]
21	Leo Krafft	Norway	TBC	Football			–	TBC	–[73]
22	Matt Leo	Australia	27[74]	Football			Philadelphia Eagles	Defensive End	2020 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt)[75]
23	Boqiao Li (李伯乔)	China	TBC	Football			–	TBC	–[76]
24	Chris Mulumba	Finland	TBC	Football			–	TBC	–[77]
25	Sandro Platzgummer	Austria	22[78]	Football			New York Giants	Running Back	2020 – assigned by NFL to roster as IPP (roster exempt)[79]
26	Antoni Podgórski	Poland	TBC	Football			–	Wide Receiver	–[80]
27	Bernhard Seikovits	Austria	TBC	Football			–	TBC	–[81]

See also

• Foreign players in the National Football League

References