Rugby star Jarryd Hayne visited the Seahawks Tuesday
Published 4:32 pm Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Two months after Australian rugby star Jarryd Hanye stunned fans of his sport by announcing his retirement to pursue a career in the NFL, he paid a visit to the Seahawks on Tuesday.
A league source confirmed that the 26-year-old Hayne visited with the Seahawks and took a physical on Tuesday, which is the day NFL teams frequently host players visit for workouts. Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post first reported Hayne’s visit.
Asked in October about the possibility of Hayne making the jump to the NFL, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that transition would be tough, and Hayne himself acknowledged in the press conference announcing his retirement that what he was attempting won’t be easy.
Considering that Hayne himself said his plan was to move to Southern California and work out with a chance at the 2015 season in mind, and considering how late it is in this season, it’s highly unlikely the Seahawks or any team (he reportedly visited San Francisco Monday) are looking at him for this season, but rather doing their due diligence for the future. If the Seahawks or any other team were to sign Hayes, the more likely scenario would be to do so after the season ends when rosters can expand to 90. Even then, it’s a long journey from a 90-man roster to making the final cuts before the season begins. Even so, the fact that the Seahawks brought Hayne in and put him through a physical seems to indicate they’d at least entertain the idea of a star rugby player transitioning to the NFL.
“I always thought it would really cool to recruit down there and all of that, because there are some great players and it’s a great game, a very physical demanding game,” Carroll said in October. “Those guys have all the same kind of stuff that we’re looking for in our guys.”
Carroll said a rugby player could be good fit in American football, “because they’re great athletes.”
“They run fast, they hit hard, they can handle the ball. The style of throwing and catching is different, and running routes is different then whipping it out there to them, so there’s different stuff. … There is a lot of general carryover, because it’s running and making people miss and tackling and hitting and being tough and physical and all that stuff.”
