Former England 7s player and Under-20 captain quits rugby for NFL

Interesting coming across this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2017/05/25/former-england-sevens-star-alex-gray-swaps-rugby-american-football/

Alex Gray has signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons. The article doesn't say where he might play, anyone have any ideas?

I'm fascinated with the NFL, the sport, the "show" and the way it's run behind the scenes. Would be interesting to see how a professional rugby player goes out there.

I'd say tight end

And after impressing during trials in Florida, the 26 year-old has been offered a contract as a tight end by the Falcons, who lost 34-28 to the New England Patriots in February's Super Bowl.

He could well only end up playing a few weeks

Gavin Hasting was the Scottish Claymores kicker for a while when they were about. I know its not the actual NFL but hey ho.

It says he has been offered a contract as a tight end. Bit grandiose of teh Telegraph to say he has quit rugby, as it seems his options had run out.

He's about the same size as James Rodwell in the England sevens set-up. If the NFL doesn't work out, he should consider returning to that code, since Rodwell won't be around much longer.

Dear lord....

He should just give up now.

He's too lightweight! That's his problem in rugby and will be his problem in NFL. Good luck to the lad for a nice holiday in Atlanta for a year though!

Just came up on my Facebook, friend of a friend apparently.

He's signed in the practice team as a tight end. Some examples of tight ends:

Gronkowski 6 foot 6, 265lbs.
Witten 6 foot 6, 263lbs.
Kelse 6 foot 6 260lbs.

Hes bigger than Perkins who the Falcons had on their roster last year

Given the trials were a few months back, I'm sure he's already worked on adding more muscle and the Falcons will probably be working on that in pre season too

marty2086 wrote:I'd say tight end

And after impressing during trials in Florida, the 26 year-old has been offered a contract as a tight end by the Falcons, who lost 34-28 to the New England Patriots in February's Super Bowl.

He could well only end up playing a few weeks

Reading never was my strong point.

[quote="GeordieFalcon"]Dear lord....

He should just give up now.

He's too lightweight! That's his problem in rugby and will be his problem in NFL. Good luck to the lad for a nice holiday in Atlanta for a year though! [/quote]

Pretty sure he's around 18stone. His problem was alcohol when he should have kicked on with his career, some horror stories about that and his behaviour.

Powerful enough to be a success and blooming quick.

According to Yorkshire Carnegie website 230lbs - so 16.5 stone.

As a tight end he could be asked to either be an auxiliary offensive linebacker (needs bulk), auxiliary receiver (needs speed) or a combination. Depends on coach's philosophy, tactics.

However he is unlikely to get any real game time in the next 12 months. He is on a one year contract with the Falcons training squad - which means that he is not on the NFL roster of players, but will be used as a tackle bag. Of course he could impress in pre-season camps and take any spot freed up by injury I guess.

LondonTiger - got the stat on his size on this article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2017/05/25/meet-alex-gray-england-sevens-star-now-eyeing-glory-nfl/

Not sure how much he plays for Yorkshire because of his 7s commitments. Good player, will be interesting to see if more clubs look at rugby players over there.

18 stone certainly looks like an exaggeration- 16.5 stones seems more accurate. I seen a pic of AG next to the Falcons current linebacker and he looked a lot leaner in comparison.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/40059211

Either way a good move as he'll be a millionaire and get to live it up in the USA.