At the moment there is Hayden Smith, who played 2nd row with the Saracens in the English Premiership. He is currently (or at least was as of the end of last season) on the NY Jets 53-man roster as a tight end. Edit: Smith, by the way, is an Australian. He was 27 when the Jets decided they wanted to sign him. He had no previous gridiron experience, but had been exposed to the game when he attended school in California.
Some rugby players have been invited to act as kickers.. I heard rumours that Johnny Wilkinson was once asked!
Amazing stupidity and confirmation bias from some American Football lovers here. Making the assumption youre not all from the same branch however.
There is no way a "former" or washed up Rugby player could ever dream of playing in the elite NFL. If a Rugby player was to ever play in the NFL he would have to start his journey very young, like 18 or 20 and then he would need to be an exceptional physical specimen because the competition is overwhelming (the NFL takes just 300 of 30,000 college athletes that are eligible in every yearly draft) There was only one former amateur or junior Rugby player who got drafted into the NFL and his name was Collin Scotts, he was from Australia and lasted only a few years in the NFL as a defensive tackle before blowing out his knees and retiring early (he wrote a book very interesting) There is also a former Rugby player trying to make it in right now but the odds are stacked firmly against him
rugby players are not athletic or black enough to play in the NFL
