British edge rusher Arthur Mbahin, Nigerian offensive lineman Chijioke 'CJ' Basil Okoye and German duo Leander Wiegand and Flamur Simon talk to Sky Sports at the 2022 NFL International Combine; Athletes from across 13 countries were put to the races at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tuesday
Friday 7 October 2022 08:21, UK
"The NFL owns this month", says Jason Bell, who celebrates a burst of energy courtesy of the banana he has just eaten having indulged in football Christmas since the International Series pitched up with its 'I Love London' merch last week.
A snoozy sentiment was shared, tossed around as small-talk and somewhat welcomed along the sideline at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday, where media had gathered to watch 44 NFL hopefuls from 13 countries compete in the 2022 International Combine.
Bell has answered as many questions about the league's growth overseas as anybody in recent years, indeed re-modelling and upgrading his responses on an annual basis such has been the progress.
The return of the Combine to London for a second successive year was the newest evidence of as much, Tottenham having become the luxury holiday home the NFL once dreamed of acquiring and now boasts of visiting each autumn. By now, they need not knock on the door before entering.
"It's International month! The NFL owns this month out here and this is why I love it," Bell told Sky Sports. "Everything that's happening now is what we've envisioned, non-stop NFL action, things going on for the entire month between games.
"I'm so excited to be out here, I can't get enough of this. I love everything around it, I'm so honoured to be part of it.
"What you're witnessing in this country and growth of the game comes down to the hard work of the NFL UK and NFL International, but it's the fans, it's their love, their appreciation, without them none of this would happen."
The former defensive back, admittedly "exhausted" after Sunday's thriller between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, swiftly retracts a suggestion he wishes he was on the field taking part in the series of exercises designed to highlight the top athletes.
On the surface, the NFL's touchdown in the UK is a lit up Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, a South Bank festival of football and double-doink game-day theatre; beneath it lies the pursuit of international talent, once-thinkable opportunity and a better future, be it through the Combine, the NFL Academy or the NFL Foundation UK.
Tuesday was, among others, about British edge rusher Arthur Mbahin, who was born and raised in Cameroon until the age of 10 and only discovered football by way of a trip to Houston to see his uncle in 2012.
"When I first came back here I didn't know they played it here so just came back and was playing Madden, watching it on YouTube," he tells Sky Sports.
"The first year in the uni sports fair I saw American Football and was like 'let me get into it'. Before I was doing track, I went to uni and was like 'let me switch it up', I was tired of 400m training because that's a lot.
"But the fees, we have to pay to play so the fees didn't allow me. I went home, decided over the summer holidays to save money, came back and they increased the fees again, then I came back in the third year and they increased the fees again."
It was not until 2019 that Mbahin finally began playing football thanks to help from one of his coaches at Coventry University, since playing for which he has also spent time with the Leicester Falcons and Tamworth Phoenix.
As far as reference points go, his film study began with the greatest defender to ever do it.
"The first player I got introduced to was Lawrence Taylor, watching The Blind Side, it wasn't about Lawrence Taylor but if you watch the introduction they mention that Lawrence Taylor made the left tackle popular so I started watching Lawrence Taylor," he adds.
"Then I've watched guys like Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, Jadeveon Clowney, I look at people like my stature. From the beginning I'd turn the TV on and be 'this guy looks like me so I'm definitely playing that position'."
Mbahin was one of five players representing the UK at the Combine alongside Bristol Aztecs linebacker Emmanuel Falola, London Blitz edge rusher Jai Jackson and London Warriors running backs Tyrese Johnson-Fisher and Andy Owusu, all of whom are striving to emulate Adedayo Odeleye and Ayo Oyelola after the British duo came through last year's International Player Pathway to earn spots with the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.
The Combine, meanwhile, showcased the NFL's continued expansion in Africa as offensive lineman Chijioke 'CJ' Basil Okoye represented one of 12 Nigerian players in attendance on behalf of Uprise Academy, a program overseen by two-time Super Bowl champion and New York Giants legend Osi Umenyiora.
"In Nigeria we don't have football but we like football, we just channel the energy to basketball," says Okoye. "It's been a long journey.
"When I first met Osi he was good, kind, I did know what to expect from him, the love he showed, he wasn't holding back."
Their involvement comes on the tail of countryman Roy Mbaeteka, though since released, signing with the Giants after participating in last year's Combine despite having never played football in high school or college.
Okoye, who notes how he likes to study San Francisco 49ers tackle Trent Williams, won MVP at Umenyiora's NFL Africa camp earlier this offseason and again showcased his basketball-cultivated footwork and speed in Tuesday's drills. As was the case for many, the chance to be in the UK alone proved beyond imagination.
"In the UK the hospitality is great, I love it but the weather is a bit chilly," he jokes. "I've dreamed of being in the UK but it's exceeded my expectations. I like it here.
"My mum, she was like ‘Oh I don’t know, can you do this?’, but my family have been supportive. I didn’t believe I would be in the UK today, I’m happy and I know they’re happy for me."
Little over a month out from the NFL's first ever regular season game in their home country, offensive lineman Leander Wiegand and defensive end Flamur Simon of the Cologne Centurions featured among six German players invited to take part.
Wiegand began playing football with the Aachen Vampires and earned himself a NCAA D1 scholarship at the University of Central Florida, where he spent a season before returning returning to play for Cologne.
"I remember watching the Super Bowl," he said of his earliest memory of the NFL. "My friend told me about it, I didn't know anything about football but there was Cam Newton and they lost but he did this [acts out Newton's Superman gesture], then later I watched the highlight tape from JJ Watt and I was so impressed, I knew that's what I wanted to do."
Nowadays he says he is sitting down to watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Lane Johnson, while also being a Williams fan.
"I watch Trent Williams, he's on such a level that you can't really copy," he says.
For Simon, Buffalo Bills generational edge marvel Von Miller became a natural role model from whom he takes notes on a Sunday.
"I'm a Broncos fan, unfortunately he isn't on the Broncos anymore but I still follow him, he's one of the most impressive athletes I've ever seen, in not only football so I like to try and see if I can replicate anything from him," he said.
Simon's first introduction to football arrived during the sport's first season live on free-to-air TV in Germany, which prompted himself and a friend to later sign up for a team in 2016. The 22-year-old registered 76 tackles, five sacks, 12 tackles for loss and two interceptions for the Centurions last season and was previously offered a scholarship by D1 University of Massachusetts.
"I'm proud to be here and to represent my country, it's a very nice look for the sport, for Europe to see this many countries represented and the types of athletes that are here are very well-mannered and good guys and good athletes, I like to compete against them and see how the top athletes from around the world look," he said.
Both attest to the highly-touted German fan base that awaits when Tom Brady's Buccaneers travel over to face the Seattle Seahawks in Munich in November. Such was the level of interest that NFL analytics claimed three million tickets could have been sold for the game, hence their own struggle to lock down a seat in the Allianz.
"It's going to be crazy, when you look at how fast tickets sold out the stadium is going to be full and the whole hype in Germany is so big, especially because Aaron Donkor is at the Seahawks and from Germany," said Wiegand.
"Me and my friends had like several computers set up and right at the time we tried to get tickets but we were like 600,000th in line, we tried," conceded Wiegand, before issuing a light-hearted plea for any fans with extra tickets on offer to send them his way.
Every so often the pair's eyes divert around the arena in which neither one can quite believe they have just played and in which just days earlier Justin Jefferson had been running riot for the Vikings.
"Sunday we watched the game and now we're there competing to be in it on a future Sunday, it's amazing. It hasn't really gotten to me," said Wiegand.
Regardless of whether or not a place in the final IPP program awaits, the experience has only seemingly fuelled their love for the game.
"It's a dream, it's a long shot, but when you look at the stage I cannot imagine anything else that would be better for me as an athlete and as a person to achieve something like playing in a stadium like this," added Simon.
It is now a waiting game for the athletes involved as the NFL searches for its next Efe Obada or Jordan Mailata.
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