Despite their differences, Rugby and football also have a lot in common. This makes us wonder whether a player who excels in one sport could become a star in the other. Thankfully, we can get an idea of this by looking at a few athletes who have made the switch in the past.

Christian Wade

A star on the wing for Wasps in rugby union, Wade scored an impressive 82 tries in seven seasons before deciding to give the NFL a try. He made an immediate impact when he joined the Buffalo Bills as a running back in 2018, making a 65-yard on his very first involvement in a preseason game.

After that, he stayed with the Bills for three seasons but was unable to break into the team as a starter. Interestingly, the English player said that he took a huge drop in wages to go through the International Player Pathway program to the NFL, earning half the salary he was picking up in the UK.

He claimed that the move was about challenging himself to use his full capabilities rather than being about money, although in his final season he managed to pick up a bigger salary in the US than he had earned in England. After he was unable to make it in the NFL, Wade returned to rugby union and signed for Racing 92 in France last year.

David Tukatahi Dixon

Probably the player to most successfully move from rugby to football, Dixon was born in New Zealand and played rugby at the international level while in high school. He then moved to the US and started playing football at Arizona State University before becoming only the second New Zealander and ethnic Maori – after Riki Ellison – to join the NFL,

He joined the New England Patriots initially but is best remembered for a couple of spells with the Minnesota Vikings that lasted a decade. Dixon was moved from defense to become an offensive linesman and became a solid, steady presence in the team until injuries forced him to retire in 2004.

Jonathan Mailata

A look at the early betting on Super Bowl 2024 suggests that the Philadelphia Eagles are among the favorites to win the trophy this year. They’re behind the Kansas City Chiefs and just ahead of teams like the Buffalo Bill and the Cincinnati Bengals in the latest odds, but could a former rugby league player described as a human wrecking ball be the key to the Eagles winning the Super Bowl LVIII?

Jonathan Mailata is arguably the most successful rugby player to make the switch to pro football in the US. The Australian played rugby in his home country as a young man but a health scare meant that it was recommended to him that he find a sport where his size would be valuable and where he wouldn’t struggle with the pace of the game. This led to him joining the NFL through the International Player Pathway Program and joining the Eagles in the 2018 draft.

Hayden Smith

The next player on the list to make this switch between sports was born in Australia and initially played basketball as a youngster there. Hayden Smith then moved to the US on a scholarship and continued to play basketball at the Metropolitan State University of Denver until turning his attention to rugby.

He then played rugby for the Denver Barbarians and was named an All-American in this sport shortly after starting. His professional rugby career took him to Saracens FC in England, while he represented the American national team. Smith moved to the NFL and spent a season with the New York Jets before returning to rugby. With the 2023 NFL draft recently ended but the quality of the picks still to be seen, it will be interesting to see if there are any rumors of players from other sports moving to football.

Gavin Hastings

One of the first players to try these different sports and find a degree of success in Football Gavin Hastings was among the most popular Scottish rugby players of his generation. A tough fullback who captained his country 20 times and also captained the British Lions, he played for Cambridge University, Watsonians, and London Scottish.

He retired from his original sport after the Rugby World Cup in 1995, but a year later played for the Scottish Claymores in the NFL Europe. Hastings’ role was as a placekicker, and he scored 24 out of the 27 conversions he attempted but failed with his only field goal effort.

These aren’t the only players to make this switch, as other notable names on our list include Valentine Holmes, Manfred Moore, and Jarryd Hayne. However, there’s no doubt that changing sports like this is incredibly challenging even for someone who is considered one of the best in their current sport.

The post Rugby Stars Who Crossed Over to the NFL appeared first on .