The Athletes and Trainers Born Outside in the United States

Although the United States is a country of immigrants, the National Football League is largely led by American-born athletes. Only 5% of players are foreign-born, and most of them enter the sport by attending college in the United States. Genuine international figures are rare, and coaches from abroad are especially rare, which makes James Cook’s journey remarkable.

James Cook’s Unlikely Journey to the NFL

For the past six months, Cook has been in charge of player development at the Browns organization. This is an accomplishment in itself, but it’s incredible given he was raised in England, is in his twenties, and did not participated in pro sports. Cook discovered the NFL as a 12-year-old while channel-flicking with his father and stumbled upon what he described as a “weird and wonderful” sport. He began participating in his area and soon wanted to become the first-ever NFL quarterback from Europe. He progressed to representing Great Britain, but his dreams to attend college in the US were financially prohibitive.

“I scooped popcorn, wiping seats, flipping burgers, doing a bit of everything. Any time the NFL guys needed me, I would switch my schedule and help out. Being a quarterback, the key skill I had was I could throw. So when they trained with players, I’d appear all over London and throw the ball to them. I wasn’t paid, but they’d often buy me lunch.”

This is where he encountered Aden Durde, who had stints with the Panthers and Chiefs during his playing days before he set up the International Player Pathway programme in that year with two-time championship winner Umenyiora. When Durde became part of the staff at the Falcons, becoming the first-ever UK full-time coach in NFL history, Cook took over the IPP. “I enjoyed a lot of fun with it, working with some really interesting guys,” he recalls. “We had Rees-Zammit; Travis Clayton, who got drafted by Buffalo; Charlie Smyth, the kicker from Ireland who’s now with the Saints. I went to Down Under to work with younger players from around the Pacific to get them into the US college system, similar to what I had hoped to do.”

Transitioning to Coaching in the NFL

Like Durde before him, Cook transitioned from training foreign players to joining the NFL. “The Browns contacted me out of the blue,” he explains. “They had a multi-faceted position assisting rookies, optimizing time on the practice field, working closely with physios, the coach and general manager. It’s a very hands-on position, which is ideal for me. My background was working with international athletes who had never played the sport. Rookie newcomers also have to build structure and routines: learning to take care of their health and handle a huge game plan. But also just being available for guys. That’s the identical everywhere. And I enjoy that.”

Does being an Englishman who never compete in the NFL hold him back? “It’s more of a perceived barrier than an actual one,” says Cook. “I get a lot of Lasso-style jokes and loads of players call me ‘mate’ as they like that. It’s more about monitoring my language. I say ‘trash can’ not ‘bin’. But we get nervous or under pressure about the similar things and require support in the same ways. If players know you can help them, they don’t care about your origin or what accent. And when people realize that you care, all the other stuff fades.”

Advantages of Coming From Outside the NFL Bubble

Coming from beyond the NFL bubble has its advantages. “I addressed in front of the whole squad soon after joining, and, as we left, one of our offensive linemen wanted to talk the sport with me as he loves it. You make those connections and form friendships. Teammates are genuinely curious. NFL organizations are varied than many think. We have staff from all sorts of backgrounds, a range of upbringings. Our mantra at IPP was: ‘Stand out – you are unique so lean into it.’ It’s something to be proud of.”

The NFL has been more successful at producing foreign fans than nurturing global talent. Mailata, a ex- rugby player from Sydney who won the championship recently with the Eagles, is one of the few IPP graduates to have made it to the very top.

Foreign Players and Their Journeys

Foreign players have typically been kickers, brought in from other football codes. Howfield swapped soccer for Watford and Fulham for becoming a kicker for the Denver Broncos and Jets; Luckhurst graduated from rugby union in St Albans to the Falcons team. If you do not want to be a special teams player and were not educated in the American system, it’s very challenging to make the leap to the NFL.

Oyelola, a Londoner who played for Chelsea’s youth team before discovering the sport at university, has achieved that. He played in the Canadian Football League for the Blue Bombers before taking his talents to the Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Maximilian Pircher’s experience is just as unlikely. At 6ft 7in and heavyweight, the Italian was obviously not suited for his favoured sports, football and handball, so started the NFL in his late teens. He stood out while representing teams in Austria and Europe, as well as the national side, and was offered a place on the IPP in 2021.

The following year, he held the championship trophy as a member of the LA Rams training team. Pircher subsequently had spells on the periphery at the Detroit Lions, Seahawks and Commanders, before he joined the Vikings at the end of August. He has been well-liked in every locker room but is hasn’t had game time on the field. Is being a foreigner still a challenge?

“It’s not really difficult, not a barrier,” says the player. “We have players from all different states, so it doesn’t really matter. Initially, they ask: ‘You got an accent – where are you from?’ But, after we have that figured out, we’re all friends. The Minnesota have a really welcoming culture, a great team, a great franchise.”

Despite spending the majority of training with his other offensive linemen, Pircher has thrown himself into the social mix at his clubs. “Naturally the offensive line is consistently very tight because we are a unit and united, but we have friends from every position group. My best friend, Akers – my best man, in fact – played wide receiver at the LA. The specialist from the Packers, Matt Orzech, is a close pal: we lived together for a while at the LA Rams. QBs, defenders, special teams: we’ve have to be supportive.”

Motivating the Next Generation

Pircher is aware he represents not only his home countries. “I would say all the countries outside the United States. The more successful every IPP graduate performs, the more youth who participate in Italy, in Germany, wherever, can see: ‘Oh it is possible – if I put the work in consistently, I can succeed.’ I have a many youngsters hitting me up, asking for tips. It’s nice to encourage them to experience what I’ve achieved.”

The program alumni are all invited to Florida each year to train the new group of aspiring NFL internationals. “Almost all of us come back