As some of you may or may not be aware, I have a desire to play this game.

And I've found a club nearby that is active and has a president that actually responds to emails. Its a little tricky in that I'm aiming the next year of my training to getting in peak shape for university next year (Sep 2007 onwards) as I want to play Rugby League there. The football (US) season here runs from April through September, with preseason training starting in December. Now I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm going to cut until early December anyhow then do a Bulk/Cut of 10 and 12 weeks respectively, hopefull in Spring next year I'll just be worrying about maintenance. My cardio is fitness is good to very good in my opinion at the moment, but I will be working on it.

Now to the meat of my post...

Firstly I'll need some good tips on footwear. I will be playing on all grass pitches, so was wondering whether vanilla 'soccer' boots will cut it?

Secondly, I have no idea what position I should be looking at. In Rugby I will be aiming to be an inside or outside half. Basically, you expect these guys to have good hands and to be able to hit the game line (i.e. the opposition) hard, hopefully breaking tackles. You will also expect these players to be able to tackle and move around the pitch with a good degree of pace.

As for stats I'm 173cm tall and weigh 152lbs, although I anticipate that dropping to around 142-146 come December.

With that in mind what positions would you point me towards trying? I was thinking from my research something like FB/RB/CB/OLB? But as you can see I'm not exactly a giant so not sure what bearing that would have on it all.

Also any ideas on sport specific training? I get short 100% sprints to up my speed and some calisthenics (sp?) for core strength, and some other things I got in mind for mobility (little games we used to use in rugby training to aid direction change etc.).

And what are reputable helmet manufacturers, is there a safety trademark or anything? I don't particularly mind busting things up, but head injuries are not a laughing matter.

EDIT: Where'd you get something like this...



I could be Fly the Space Cowboy.

This may sound weird, but how old are you? Like is this league professional or a school league or what?

In US football your weight is too low for any position. With about 20 pounds more, you would probably be the smallest guy on a team and would have to be the quickest to have a legitimate chance at a spot.

The most reasonable position would be a running back in my opinion, possibly cornerback or maybe safety. But corners and safety traditionally do a little better with some height as they have to cover tall wide receivers.

A linebacker position seems a bit of a stretch. But again, this is all in relation to professional standards, like the NFL.

I really wanted to play US football, I signed up for training, but when I showed up the team was no more. They sucked so much that they didnt bother funding another season.

If only they knew I was going to play for them.
Maybe things would have happened a little diffrent.

Haha...

Basically AJP its the British league, I think there's a few semi-pros out there and some pros from the States in the twilight years of their careers. Other than that its just people doing it for the hell of it.

From what I've seen looking around some teams some are a lot more squared away than others. The team I'm looking at has a record last season of 0-0-10 ( ). But they are only 20 minutes away and I've never played, so its enough. Flip side of the coin is that one of the bigger UK teams, Birmingham Bulls, is in the same 'Leaue' (the main league is split into smaller leagues).

I'd imagine the general standard is going to be similar (although I'm guessing a lot here) to say seniors at high school for the most part. From seeing some college games in the states I wouldn't say its up to that par, and certainly a loooong way below Europe, let alone the NFL.

I'm 25 by the way.

152 lbs is very small for US football, but that's according to whos playing around you. In college/pro ball here, lineman usually run 240-300 lbs (offensive and defensive) and linebackers are usually 220-240 lbs, so I would definitely shy away from any kind of offensive backfield position.

You're 5 foot 8 inches, so you could theoretically play cornerback or safety (safety probably since you won't be stuck in man to man coverage with a 6 foot 2 inch reciever). The only problem with that is in a defense that requires you to come up for run support you may have to be able to stop a running back thats 50 lbs heavier.

I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, but you're really too light to play most of the positions... maybe you could play quarterback.

Yeah the team i wanted to play for had a score like that.
I'd much rather play for a really bad team to start with, that way you shouldn't be too rubish and you wont feel like you have cost anyone the game.

My nearest team is now 40mins drive and I cant commit to training once a week cos of work.

Don't worry, I'm not discouraged. The beauty of being a little stupid

I'm used to playing flanker in Rugby Union going up against lumbering fat a**ed 19st ish (~250lb) prop forwards so getting mashed is not anything overly new. I would feel a lot more happy going in for a tackle than a block as I know how to bring big fellas down in tackles but its pointless me trying to wrestle someone that much heavier than me.

I'm not aniticipating a great deal of outstanding athletes knocking around, its not like rugby or soccer over here where it can lead to a lucrative career if you have right skill base and dedication. We have basketball and hockey leagues here too, if anyone is any good they get poached. Heard there's some good players knocking around who played in the Uni leagues then graduated. Mainly folk seem to play who are NFL junkies or fancy something different or have picked up too many rugby injuries but still need a team based full contact sport. I'll get a better feel of it soon enough.

Lewis my thoughts exactly, they quite obviously suck but anywhere will be a good enough introduction to the sport and its intracacies. They share the same coach as the Trent Uni team, he at least has some stateside experience and the uni team have been rather successful since their inception.

I'm lucky in that its a short drive and they only train once a week on Sunday mornings which is no hassle. I struggled with Rugby League for similar reasons as yours with this, an 80 minute ish trip up north twice a week was something I just couldn't cut.

EDIT: This scrimmage pick invloves one of the countries leading teams, in black.



Not exactly giants among men as you can see. That hopefully gives an idea of sizes for comparison.

I definitely recommend playing safety then...

You get to help cover recievers, you get to come up on running plays and hit someone, and you wont get pushed around too often by the offensive line. Some of the hardest hitters in the US pro game are safeties...

I would go safety or cornerback. Cornerback would probably be a little easier on your body, but as aevans said, safteys get to hit more people

Safety is sounding good about now.

I went had a look around for info on the position, and found some videos of a dude called Sean Taylor. That guy can steamroll

Safety all the way man. They get to hit, if they are quick then they get interceptions, and they get a good look at the play. Safety is tricky though. If you want to be good, you have to study offense and defense, learn the line formations and look for hints as to where the ball is going.
Troy Polamalu from the Pittsburgh Steelers should be your hero if you want to look at being a safety. That guy is the man

Official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers - Roster

That guy is my age, only one inch taller but I'm giving away about 50-60lbs haha

Cheers Tony, I feel real small now

Fly, that guy is about the most feared safety in the NFL. That's why he should be your hero...that's all. It gives you a great goal

He reminds me of what Ronnie Lott would have been like if he was 40 pounds heavier.

You gotta agree that the man is both very feared and very respected in the world of the NFL though. I LOVE watching him bowl some people over (not much this season though due to that shoulder injury).