Jacksonville Jaguars Offer Tryout to Chinese Kicker Long Ding
Over the course of the last decade, the NFL has made a push to increase the international visibility and viability of professional football in non-American markets. With the development of NFL Europe in the early 2000s and the consistent play of pre-season games overseas, it seems to be starting to pay off to a minor extent.
A handful of foreign players have made their way to NFL tryouts in the past few seasons, the most recent being Chinese kicker Long Ding who has been granted a tryout with the Jacksonville Jaguars according to reports. Ding, who kicked at NCAA Division III school Norwich University in Vermont, was 13-16 in field goals and a perfect 35-35 in his senior season.
Twice named the Eastern Collegiate Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year, the 6’0″ Ding benches 300 pounds and is considered a good athlete versus his competition in this year’s class. His performance against other kickers at the Players All-Star Classic this past February in Little Rock, Arkansas was enough for the Jaguars to roll the dice on him for a tryout.
After making the decision to franchise kicker Josh Scobee during the off-season, it’s obvious the Jaguars are looking toward the future at the position and thought giving a tryout to a kicker that was once part of the NFL’s USA Football International Student Program would be a nice goodwill and public relations gesture if nothing else.
If Ding in fact makes an NFL roster– whether it be in Jacksonville, or somewhere else– it would be a great story and visible proof for the NFL that their marketing efforts in one of the world’s biggest untapped markets weren’t all for naught.
No Chinese players currently, or have ever played, in the NFL so Long Ding would be a precedent setter.
There’s always someone that has to be the first.
Why not him?
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Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports. If you enjoy his takes, you can follow Kris on Twitter, check out his personal Facebook page, or stop by his personal Tumblr page.
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More stories about Chinese kicker Long Ding:
NFL Jaguars giving kicker Long Ding of China a tryout: http://usat.ly/JAFHl9
Jaguars offer tryout to Chinese kicker: http://bit.ly/IFK9hG
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