Former Parramatta Eels star Jarryd Hayne has ramped up his search for an NFL club with visits to a couple of west coast teams as he attempts to pull off one of the all-time great code switches.
The two-time Dally M medal winner shocked the NRL world in October when he decided to pull the pin on a 176-game career with the Eels, announcing a move to the US in the hope of making an NFL roster.
US website nationalfootballpost.com reports Hayne recently visited the facilities of a couple of west coast teams, the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, but appears no closer to inking a first contract.
The chances of Hayne signing a deal this late in the NFL season aren’t great, however reports that the Seahawks put Hayne through a physical would seem to indicate US teams believe the Australian can make the transition.
“The likely scenario here is that Hayne will hold some workouts and then maybe sign with an NFL team after the season, when rosters can expand from their current 53 (plus practice squad, etc.) to the 90 that is allowed for training camp,” wrote the Seattle Times. “So for now, while it’s interesting that Hayne paid Seattle a visit, I’d hold off anointing him a Seahawk.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll complimented Hayne after news broke of his NRL defection, describing the 26-year-old at the time as “an incredible athlete and a great competitor” while remaining noncommittal on the team’s interest in acquiring the Sydney native.
Carroll has previously mentioned the possibility of recruiting Australian players because of similarities between games.
“I always thought it would really cool to recruit down there and all of that, because there are some great players and it’s a great game, a very physical demanding game,” Carroll said in October. “Those guys have all the same kind of stuff that we’re looking for in our guys.”
“They run fast, they hit hard, they can handle the ball. The style of throwing and catching is different, and running routes is different then whipping it out there to them, so there’s different stuff. … There is a lot of general carryover, because it’s running and making people miss and tackling and hitting and being tough and physical and all that stuff.”
Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images.
