The British are coming: NFL Academy starting to turn UK talent into college prospects

LONDON — Rafael Varona Blakstad had only asked for directions on campus. The guy wearing NFL Academy gear surprised the London native with his answer.

“He said ‘Have you ever played football?’ in the most American accent I’ve ever heard. I was kind of hooked from there,” said Varona Blakstad, who left a prominent rugby club to become a wide receiver.

The teenager and his mom had been visiting Loughborough University, where the NFL Academy is based. The guy they bumped into was Lamonte Winston, head of the academy.

Germans and Swedes typically comprise most of the top European prospects for American college football, but the U.K. talent is gaining momentum.

The NFL academy, which opened in 2019, has been sharpening its local recruitment and the results are starting to show with several recent graduates now playing for Power Four conference schools.

“The British kids are getting there,” Winston said. “Soccer and rugby are king. It's not the norm over here for kids to play multiple sports. You play one sport — that’s it."

That's why it was such a surprise when Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit switched to American football and joined the NFL's international player pathway program.

The 23-year-old Rees-Zammit was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs but didn't make their 53-man roster. He then joined the Jacksonville Jaguars to be on the team's practice squad as a wide receiver. The Jags come to London this week and play the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The academy uses social media and personal networks to recruit mostly Europeans ages 16 to 19. They tapped into the Rees-Zammit connection, too, having the former rugby star call Varona Blakstad when the teenager was deciding to leave Saracens rugby academy.

“He's achieved everything a youngster would want to in rugby and the fact that he was making a change over to American football really meant a lot to me,” the 19-year-old Varona Blakstad said.

Varona Blakstad was also an England academy player, meaning he was on track to play for his country some day.

He hopes that by switching now, he'll have a chance at a Division I scholarship. He's 6-foot-5 and was timed at 4.6 in the 40-yard dash.

Varona Blakstad didn't need height or speed, though, for his biggest play Tuesday when the academy played U.S. high school De La Salle at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The academy lost 31-9 but Varona Blakstad gave home fans a boost when he got into the end zone on the final play of the game and caught a tipped pass.

“I just couldn't believe it. I was like ‘this is really happening.’ I just started playing the sport less than two months ago and now I've just caught my first touchdown at Tottenham stadium," he said.

Academy graduate Timi Oke went from south London to Northwestern despite the cornerback taking up football at age 18. Other English talents are offensive tackles Daniel Akinkunmi (Oklahoma) and Akram Elnagmi (Pitt commit), as well as Mississippi State tight end Seydou Traore.

British fans like the NFL, which has played regular-season games in London since 2007, but there are few options for kids who want to play tackle football.

“The U.K. probably should be No. 1 in terms of the amount of athletes coming out of there,” said Brandon Collier, who runs Germany-based PPI Recruits. “There’s a lot of talent there.”

Indeed, Travis Clayton went from lower-tier English rugby to being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of this year’s NFL draft as offensive tackle prospect.

British-born players who have been successful in the NFL like Osi Umenyiora typically had moved to the United States for high school first.

Across the U.K. there are few clubs that offer tackle football for teenagers, and usually not 11-vs-11.

Collier said his upcoming camp in Germany in conjunction with 24/7 Sports has no British kids registered.

“It happened last year as well. We had 24/7 here and literally 20-something kids went Division I from this camp and we had no kids from the UK,” said Collier, who no longer holds camps in England due to lack of local interest.

Varona Blakstad would sometimes go to a park to run routes and catch passes with friends, but that was it.

“I never realized it was something you could play in England,” he said.

Junior academy?

Winston, who previously worked as player development director for the Kansas City Chiefs, said creating a junior academy would be a logical next step.

“To play tackle football, you have to have places for kids to develop in tackle football — you just do,” he said. "We’d love to have a junior academy here at our NFL academy.”

The growing popularity of flag football is going to create demand, he said, and it would also be a good landing spot for younger teenagers who miss the cut at elite rugby or soccer clubs.

Varona Blakstad's case is a bit different in that he was already at Saracens, one of the country's best rugby clubs. Winston said they have a good relationship with Saracens.

“We don’t poach. We don’t need to do that,” he said.

Varona Blakstad has one year at the academy to impress scouts. That amounts to a handful of games followed by summer competition at U.S. camps.

“It’s surreal and it’s an amazing opportunity.”