Like the NBA in recent years which has set up a huge development program in Africa via, among other things, camps all over the continent and an NBA Academy in Senegal ...

Africa, the new ground for the American NFL to conquer

The National Football League, abbreviated by its acronym NFL, is an association of professional American football teams in the United States.

Bob Levey GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP / File

Text by: Michaël Oliveira Da Costa

6 mins

Like the NBA in recent years which has set up a huge development program in Africa via, among other things, camps all over the continent and an NBA Academy in Senegal, the national American football league (NFL) decided to follow in the footsteps of his counterpart with the orange ball.

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“

Are you ready !?

More than a slogan, a strong announcement.

On September 6, the NFL marked the launch of its

official

NFL

Africa

pages

on Instagram and Twitter with a one-minute clip on Afrobeat background, showing a montage of the best actions of players of African descent already present. in the league and young balls in hand in various places on the continent.

The best US football league in the world does not hide it and through this vast communication operation, displays its future ambitions: to put both feet on the African continent.

For John Herchen, director of international development of the league, the foundations are laid to move forward on a solid project.

Recruitment camps on the continent

We have been working on the subject for several years, but we have recently been talking about it publicly and this communication operation is only a small visible part of the iceberg

", he underlines, before adding that "

Beyond the work on communication, we also work in the field, and being focused on making sport known on the continent but also developing training and recruitment programs

". For example, recruitment camps on the continent also called “Combines” (editor's note: recruitment days for US sports), initiation operations in this sport, but also development projects based on health. and education through playing American football are in the pipeline for the next few months, according to Herchen. “

We are about 30 people working on this subject in the league, and to give you an example, the NFL International Combine, carried out in London in October, should have been in Africa, but the health context has forced to relocate him to Europe. It's only a foretaste of what we want to do on the continent,

”he explains.

Several countries are in the sights of the NFL for a first phase which should start in January 2022, such as Nigeria, which has about twenty players with a link with the country already present in the league, Cameroon, Ivory Coast. , but also South Africa, for its "

history and its breeding ground at the level of rugby, of which the possible springboard for American football is a huge advantage

" according to Joe Smith Jr., scout for the New York Jets, who is part of of the NFL Africa adventure. He is already making trips to Africa in search of the rare pearl, on behalf of the Big Apple franchise. "

Of course the work done by the NBA inspires us, and helps us to move forward on the African continent, because the expertise of the basketball league is unique, avant-garde for US sports

”, he affirms, before adding that "

African players can fill the ranks of our franchises, and I wouldn't be surprised to see dozens and dozens of them being drafted into the NFL every season for the next 3.4 years.
The potential is so enormous, the challenge is very exciting

”.

Develop the practice of American football and rely on the forces present

Despite the fact that American football is almost unknown on the continent, the NFL has no doubts when it comes to taking out the checkbook in the development of the practice and the brand in Africa. In terms of play, which constitutes the first level of the project, the executives of the league, supported by several sports directors of franchise, are serene.

“

American football is an intense sport, but it is not a sport where you have to have learned to play for 10 years to be able to be competitive,

” said Dave Gettlemen, president of football operations and sporting director of the New York Giants. “

There are a lot of examples of players in the league who played basketball or some other sport and turned to American football when they were 16 or 17, and who are very successful in their careers. I think that with the presence of rugby in several African countries and the desire, but also the curiosity, of tens of thousands of young people to want to try a sport other than soccer

(football)

to make it their profession are a large number of elements that go in the direction of our initiative to go and develop on the continent.
The stepping stone from athletics, rugby and football to American football is pretty straightforward if I may say so.
I think that by working well, we can help a lot, a lot of players to become professionals in the NFL and these same young people will inspire the youth of the continent.
I am convinced of it

”.

Looking for ambassadors

To give the project even more impact, the league is also surrounding itself with several current or former players of African origin, who will probably become ambassadors for the development of the NFL in Africa, like a Gorgui Dieng or a

Joël Embiid

for the NBA. The creation of a probable NFL Academy (in Nigeria or South Africa) is in the pipeline, and two players, Ndamukong Suh, the player of Cameroonian origin of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers and Jay Ajayi, born in London of Nigerian parents, now retired, but a former Philadelphia Eagles executive, are already involved in the project.

For Ndamukong Suh, part of the future of the NFL is in Africa. "

I am so happy when every week, I meet an African brother, but also to see more and more African guys or of African origin arriving in the league

", he smiles, before admitting that he "

wishes get more and more involved in the NFL Africa project

”. And to add: "

Having already made a few visits to Cameroon, I realize the potential for madness that there is there and in the rest of the continent. I remember walking through several streets of Yaoundé telling myself a hundred times "but wait, this hard working guy can play in the NFL!",
the physical and athletic potential is just crazy, there will be more and more guys from the continent who will wear the jerseys of different franchises, I'm taking the bets now (laughs)

Africa, the new ground for the American NFL to conquer

Africa, the new ground for the American NFL to conquer

Recruitment camps on the continent

Develop the practice of American football and rely on the forces present

Looking for ambassadors

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