Last week the trailer for NFL Undiscovered was teased to fans on Twitter and the likes by the NFLUK. NFL Undiscovered follows the journey of Moritz Böhringer, Anthony Dable, & Harry Innis, three young amateur American Footballers from Europe, on a journey to their American Dream. All 12 ‘bite size’ episodes have now been released to watch on YouTube, each one is short and sweet at around 5 minutes so you can get your quick NFL fix between now and the new season.
Here I’ll take you through it, episode by episode:
NFL Undiscovered – Episode 1 Recap: Meet the Europeans
In the opening episode of NFL Undiscovered we meet French wide receiver, Anthony Dable and English tight-end, Harry Innis as they start their journey to try and achieve the impossible – go from the amateur American Football leagues in Europe to the biggest sports league in the world – the NFL.
“All these people who are playing football outside of America, they have no way of making it in to the NFL. It was important for me to get these guys with somebody who I know personally will take care of them. We knew we had to find somebody else. It’s going to be so draining. It’s going to be so tough on them.” Osi Umenyiora.
NFL teams make up four of the top ten sporting franchises in the world. It is the most watched sport in the US. For young American Football players, the dream is to make it to the pros. For the majority, the reality is near impossible. Outside the US, the NFL dream is impossible.
During his 11 years in the NFL, Osi Umenyiora won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants. London born, but carrying an American accent, Osi is one of a handful of Europeans to win a Super Bowl. Now back in London, he knows how hard it is to make it in the NFL.
Osi moved to Alabama when he was in High School and until this point hadn’t heard of the NFL. It was only upon his move that he discovered how popular the football players were and decided, “It looks like something I want to do” and realised when he started playing he was, in his words, “pretty good at it”.
Osi now works for NFL in exploring opportunities for European players but understand how difficult it is to break in to the NFL with their current system – picking the best college football players. Working with Osi on this project will be British NFL coach Aden Durde.
Scouting networks don’t exist in Europe when it comes to American Football making it difficult for players who aren’t at college in America impossible to get noticed so looking through YouTube reels is how Osi and Aden find candidates for the program.
We are briefly introduced to our Europeans about to embark on a journey to make it in the NFL:
- Anthony Dable, 27 years old, 6ft 5, 220lbs, playing Wide Receiver. His nationality is French and his day job is as a Postman. A player than given enough time, Osi and Aden feel can really develop in to a player in the NFL.
- Harry Innis, 28 years old, 6ft 7, 265lbs, playing Tight End. His nationality is British and his job is as a Personal Trainer. Osi and Aden feel a guy of his size and athleticism would really stand out.
At this point we are not yet introduce to Moritz Böhringer but this is to follow in a later episode.
The next step for the candidates is that they will be going to Boca Raton in Florida to train with Tony Villani, who Osi has known for 13 years. For now, it is a great introduction to what this series will be about and Osi and Aden’s mission.
Watch it here.