- Daniel Faalele impressed in the NFL
- He helped Baltimore go 5-2 this season
- He played a key role in their win over the Buccanneers on Tuesday
Australian NFL star Daniel Faalele has left some fans scratching their heads after a video of him completing a rather strange act went viral on social media.
The 24-year-old Victorian has been impressing in the NFL lately, having played in seven games this season, helping the Baltimore Ravens go 5-0 so far this season.
On Tuesday, the Ravens earned a 31-41 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But a funny moment seemed to unfold as the players walked back into the locker rooms at halftime.
Faalele was seen walking through the Raymond James Stadium tunnel with the rest of his playing group, but appeared to be in the zone when several of his teammates appeared to be walking in a different direction around a concrete pillar.
Faalele had looked like he was going to walk around the pillar, but at the last moment saw his team going the other way and doubled back before bypassing the obstacle and joining them as he walked inside the pillar.
The strange moment left some online scratching their heads, with X user @BarstoolBanks writing: “Daniel Faalele – big ‘split the pole’ man.”
There is a superstition among some called “not splitting the pole,” whereby a person can bring bad luck to themselves if they walk next to another group of people and move around an obstacle on a different route than the rest of the group.
It appears the 6ft guard also harbors those superstitions, with some, including NRL stars Josh Addo-Carr and Latrell Mitchell, apparently laughing at the incident.
Australian NFL star Daniel Faalele appeared reluctant to be separated from his teammates by a concrete pillar as the Baltimore Ravens entered the locker rooms on Tuesday
Mitchell reposted the clip to his Instagram Stories, tagging Addo-Carr, before posting two “smiling face” emojis and the caption: “Me breds.”
Addo-Carr responded by posting three “laughing” emojis on his Instagram Story.
Faalele made his debut for the Ravens in 2022 and played sixteen games for the club. He played his first game of American Football in 2017 after being discovered by a coach at the University of Hawaii.
But fans have praised him for his act, with one person writing on X: ‘Never split the pole.’
‘The things the stat sheet doesn’t show. Team man,” said another.
Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr also reposted the clip to their Instagram Stories and captioned the video with several “laughing face” emojis
Fans took to X to praise the Australian, with one calling him a ‘team man’ while another said ‘great field awareness here’
“Splitting the rod is never worth the risk,” said one person, while another X user added: “I thought everyone respected the no-splitting rule.”
“Game winner,” one wrote, while another added: “Team chemistry +10.”