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While the US is a nation of newcomers, the National Football League is still dominated by US-born athletes. Only five percent of players are born abroad, and most of them enter the sport by attending college in the US. True outsiders are unusual, and coaches from abroad are particularly scarce, which renders James Cook’s journey exceptional.

Cook’s Unlikely Path to the NFL

For the past six months, Cook has been in charge of player development at the Browns organization. That’s an achievement in itself, but it’s incredible given he was raised in England, is in his twenties, and did not participated in professional sport. Cook discovered the NFL as a teenager while surfing channels with his dad and stumbled upon what he called a “strange and amazing” game. He started playing in his area and soon wanted to become the first NFL QB from Europe. He progressed to representing Great Britain, but his plans to attend university in the US were too expensive.

“I scooped popcorn, cleaning seats, flipping burgers, handling a bit of everything. Any time the NFL people needed me, I would adjust my schedule and help out. As a quarterback, the key skill I had was I could pass. So when they trained with players, I’d show up around London and throw the ball to them. I didn’t get paid, but they’d usually get me lunch.”

It was here that he encountered Aden Durde, who had stints with the Panthers and Chiefs during his career before he established the International Player Pathway programme in 2017 with two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora. When Durde became part of the coaching team at the Atlanta Falcons, making history as the first British full-time coach in NFL history, Cook took over the IPP. “I enjoyed a lot of fun with it, working with some really interesting players,” he says. “We had Louis Rees-Zammit; Clayton, who got drafted by the Bills; Charlie Smyth, the kicker from the Emerald Isle who’s now with the Saints. I went to Down Under to train aspiring athletes from across the Pacific to get them into college football, like what I wanted to do.”

Transitioning to NFL Coaching

Like Durde before him, Cook made the jump from training foreign players to joining the NFL. “The Browns contacted me out of the blue,” he says. “They had a multi-faceted position supporting rookies, optimizing efficiency on the training ground, working closely with medical staff, the coach and general manager. It’s a very active role, which is perfect for me. My background was working with international athletes who had never played the sport. Rookie newcomers also have to build habits and schedules: how to take care of their health and handle a huge playbook. But also just being present for guys. That’s the identical everywhere. And I love that.”

Is being an Englishman who did not compete in the NFL a disadvantage? “It’s more of a imagined barrier than an actual one,” says Cook. “I get a lot of reverse Ted Lasso jokes and many players call me ‘bruv’ as they like that. It’s more about monitoring my language. I use ‘trash can’ not ‘rubbish bin’. But we feel anxious or stressed about the similar things and require support in the same ways. If players know you can assist them, they don’t care where you’re from or what accent. And when players realize that you are invested, all the other stuff melts away.”

Advantages of Being Beyond the US System

Coming from outside the NFL bubble has its advantages. “I spoke in front of the entire team very early on, and, as we walked out, one of our offensive linemen asked me about the sport with me as he enjoys it. You make those connections and build relationships. Teammates are genuinely intrigued. NFL organizations are varied than people think. We have people from all sorts of backgrounds, a range of upbringings. Our mantra at IPP was: ‘Be uncommon – you are unique so embrace it.’ It’s something to be proud of.”

The NFL has been better at producing foreign fans than developing global talent. Mailata, a former rugby player from Australia who claimed the championship recently with the Philadelphia Eagles, is among the rare IPP graduates to have risen to the elite level.

International Players and Their Journeys

International athletes have usually been kickers, brought in from different sports. Bobby Howfield swapped playing up front for English clubs for being a placekicker for the Broncos and New York Jets; Mick Luckhurst transitioned from rugby in England to the Falcons roster. If you aren’t aiming to be a kicker and were not educated in the US college system, it’s extremely difficult to advance to the NFL.

Ayo Oyelola, a Londoner who was part of Chelsea’s academy before discovering the sport at university, has achieved that. He played in the Canadian Football League for the Blue Bombers before taking his talents to the Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Maximilian Pircher’s story is just as unlikely. At over two meters and 23 stone, the Italian was clearly not built for his preferred games, football and the sport, so took up American football in his late teens. He impressed while playing for teams in Europe and Europe, as well as the national side, and was given a spot on the IPP in that year.

A year later, he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a part of the LA Rams practice squad. Pircher subsequently had periods on the periphery at the Lions, Seattle Seahawks and Commanders, before he joined the Vikings at the end of August. He has been well-liked in each team but is hasn’t had action on the gridiron. Is his status as a international player still a challenge?

“It isn’t difficult, not an obstacle,” notes the player. “We have players from all different states, so it doesn’t really matter. Initially, they ask: ‘You got an accent – what’s your background?’ But, once we have that figured out, we’re all friends. The Vikings have a really welcoming culture, a excellent squad, a great organization.”

Although spending most of training with his fellow offensive linemen, Pircher has immersed himself in the social mix at his clubs. “Naturally the offensive line is consistently close-knit because we are a unit and altogether one, but we have friends from every position group. My best friend, Akers – my best man, actually – played wide receiver at the Rams. The specialist from the Packers, Matt Orzech, is a close pal: we lived together for two years at the Rams. QBs, defenders, special teams: we’ve got to be there for each other.”

Motivating the Next Generation

Pircher is conscious he represents more than just Italy and Austria. “In my view all the countries beyond the US. The better each one of us does, the greater number of youth who participate in Italy, in Germany, wherever, can realize: ‘It can be done – if I dedicate myself every day, I can get somewhere.’ I have a many kids hitting me up, asking for tips. It’s nice to encourage them to pursue what I’ve achieved.”

The IPP graduates are welcomed to the US each year to coach the next wave of potential NFL outsiders. “Virtually everyone of us come back