Ex-Rugby Player Is Finally Chasing His NFL Dream

Christian Scotland-Williamson, formerly of the Worcester Warriors, is hoping to make the Steelers.

nfl
Sale's Luke James takes on Worcester's Christian Scotland-Williamson during the Anglo Welsh Cup match at Sixways Stadium, Worcester. (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
PA Images via Getty Images

Christian Scotland-Williamson, the former rugby player who was on the Worcester Warriors, stands 6ft 9in and 275 pounds. And though he’s never played football before this year, he wants to make the Pittsburg Steelers as a tight end. The NFL has a program that sends international players to the U.S. as practice players for a full year with a vague hope that maybe they will earn a spot on the roster after that. The odds are pretty stacked against Scotland-Williamson, but you wouldn’t know that talking to him. He believes he will make the NFL if he just works hard enough, and The Guardian writes that if you sit with him for even just a half an hour on the bench beside the Steelers practice fields, you want to believe it too.

“In the back of my mind it’s quite funny because I’m thinking ‘OK, give me a year and I’ll show you,’” he said, according to The Guardian. “As soon as I know what I’m doing it’s going to be a problem. But for now, it’s fine because I’m working things out and making a lot of mistakes. Then as soon as I know what I’m doing, I will be fine.”

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.