While Antoine Dupont visited the Los Angeles Loaders, the best rugby player on the planet does not envisage a single second to play in NFL. Despite his talent and qualities, he does not have the physical for this sport.
What if, after having succeeded in the transition from rugby to 15 to rugby at 7, Antoine Dupont was trying his luck in another discipline? For his last days of vacation, the Toulouse stadium player flew to California to visit the Los Angeles Chargers. And if he was able to visit the installations of this franchise, exchange with the coach, with a few players, and even hit a few kicks on the field, the tricolor halfway has no intention of offering a retraining in NFL.
Given from afar, American rugby and football could be alike. But in reality, the US cousin of our ovalie is a sport that has such specificities that even an athlete of Antoine Dupont’s caliber would probably not have his place. There are beautiful babies in rugby, but in Los Angeles, the best player in the Top 14 was able to meet offensive line players, those who protect the quarterback. An example? Joe Alt, the player drafted by the loaders, announced at 2.06m and 141 kg at only 21 years old.
“” Like that, we don’t have, recognized Dupont with the team. Because we, in the end, guys must be strong, but they still have to run a lot, move, so they cannot be too heavy either. There, there are really specific positions where it is still quite static, even if there is explosiveness on the first supports, there are very very little trips, so guys are really massive, and it is true that it is always impressive to see. »»
If he had to try his luck, Antoine Dupont does not even know what position he could evolve. “” It is still away from rugby. I would really have to spend a lot of time there and, honestly, I do not even have a position in which I could project myself, since I could assimilate me to a playmaker at 15, which would be the quarterback here, but I will not work this now. And when I see the athletes that there are as receivers, I don’t think I was invited. »»
Receivers are players who must be ultra-fast, to take speed defenders, and who are large enough by size to capture the balloons. The references (Ceedee Lamb, Justin Jefferson…) are at least 10 centimeters more than Dupont (1.75m). A Tyreek Hill (1.78m) detonates by its size, but the players of the Miami Dolphins is an arrow, already descended under 10 “20 to 100 meters. Dupont, even if it is not slow, does not have these qualities.
It’s too late for Dupont: ” The guys have been doing this since they are very small … “
And Quarterback then? Somewhere, the role of organizer of the game is a bit of that of half-mats. But beyond the passing technique which differs from rugby, the great difficulty of the position is to have to understand and analyze the offensive and defensive strategies of the two teams in a fraction of a second. You must have bathed in there for years to grasp all the subtleties. Sometimes, some quarterbacks arriving in NFL at 24 or 25, after playing 4 years in this set in college, must wait one or two seasons on the bench to learn, before being launched in the deep bath. Imagine a layman who would land from another sport …
In addition, if Dupont dominates rugby by his volume of play, which allows him to make the difference at one time or another, the rhythm of the NFL meetings is completely different. The actions last only a few seconds, which gives pride of place to explosive players. The Welshman Louis Rees-Zammit, one of the most talented and promising wingers on the planet rugby, tried the NFL adventure, via a specialized integration program. Despite several months of training, and some appearances in preseason, he failed to make a place for himself in the workforce of the Kansas City Chiefs. It was not fast enough or not powerful enough to make the difference as a running-back, the ball carrier.
“It would no longer be the position I could occupy,” Considers Dupont, who prefers not to think about it. The guys have been doing this since they are very small, they train all day, so I think it’s too late unfortunately. »» And defender, if not? His profile would rather be that of a linebacker, a fairly hybrid player, who must be able to hinder the receivers and place the runners. But if he arrived in NFL, Dupont would be the smallest player in the league for this position. No need to think about it …
