DIn their hopes of finding breakout international stars, NFL talent scouts appear to have found two paths worth pursuing. Of the athletes in the competition’s International Player Pathway (IPP) in 2024 and 2025, the latter group was announced last week, around half were rugby players from both codes from Australia or athletes of Nigerian descent. With Jotham Russell, the NFL has both.
A year ago, Russell continued his rugby league career with Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering Colts competition in Queensland. Identified as a potential NFL player, he attended tryouts for the IPP program at the IMG Academy in Florida in January. The Australian of Nigerian descent survived Rookie Camp in May and preparation to sign for the New England Patriots practice squad, where he watched an NFL game from the sidelines for the first time as the Pats lost to Jacksonville at Wembley in October. It’s been a mind-boggling whirlwind.
“It was really a matter of right time, right place,” says the sociable Russell. “My mind was never in the NFL program. I was just in Canberra to sign an U21 contract for the Raiders.
“Someone had contacted me and asked if I was interested because I fit the physique they were looking for. They asked me to send some rugby highlights and ended up taking me to them in Gold Coast for a personal training session. I heard they had trained a few people ahead of me and I was the last one, so it ended up being one-on-one. It only took me an hour.”
That was enough for scouts to believe he had serious potential. Born in Canberra but raised on the Gold Coast, Jotham was a regular at the Brisbane Broncos academy before switching to the wing. Now 21, Russell’s 6-foot-4, 239-pound frame screams “NRL second rower.” Hence the defensive role in the 11-man code.
“They already had the idea I would be a defensive player because of the way I moved,” says the former Currumbin Eagles junior. “We did some exercises backwards to see if I could get into position, something I wouldn’t normally do other than getting the 10 back [metres]. When I started playing on the edge in rugby, it was a big deal that I had to be able to move around in space.
“I started playing prop, but a year later I ended up on the wing, which is a huge transition. But it’s a challenge and I loved it. I’m really grateful for it because going from prop where I got that contact and it was just fast ‘downhill’ runs to playing on the edge where you have to be more fluid and mobile was good for expanding my skillset.”
The 49ers’ Mitch Wishnowsky, drafted in 2019, opened the gate for Australian bettors to make the switch, most with an upbringing in Aussie Rules. This year there are six, while several Australians on the IPP have learned gridiron at American colleges. The NFL’s Australian poster boy, however, is Philadelphia’s Jordan Mailata, the former South Sydney junior. Two years ago, Mailata almost became the second former rugby league player to win an NFL championship. American Gary Kerkorian, a backup quarterback to Colts legend Johnny Unitas in 1958, retains that crown. Mailata’s contract with the Eagles is worth $22 million per year. No wonder others are chasing that pot of gold.
The first thing Russell did when signing up for the trials was listen to Mailata’s podcast and the former Rabbitohs player spoke to the youngster at the IMG camp, who was training in his Seagulls vest. While his IPP status exempts him from their 90-man roster, the Patriots wouldn’t have retained Russell if they didn’t see potential.
While there are about 45 players on the field most weeks, Russell is among the 17 practice squad hopefuls watching and learning. In his case, he’s processing the defensive end’s job: sacking the quarterback or preventing a runner from getting around the outside.
“I’m trying to get mental reps, seeing how much I know from what we scouted last week, what are they doing,” he says. “I have to learn techniques from our team and other teams because I am on the Look team [which plays as the gameday opposition].
“I’ve definitely had moments where I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ For example, the Look Team for the Jags uses a three-point technique for their run, which is definitely different from us. We’re doing a standing two-point contest, so at the start I didn’t know what I was doing. I had to push my coaches aside and say that I feel like I’m not seeing anything. That was a completely different learning curve for me. I was able to correct my mistakes and learn a new technique.”
Few athletes are paid to play rugby and American football. If Louis Rees-Zammit, the top IPP signing of 2024, makes the jump, he will join an elite group that includes Jarryd Hayne, Manfred Moore and Hayden Smith, both of whom have played at the highest level.
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“My headspace is a lot: what is my role today? The goal is to get myself on the field, so what do I have to do now to do that?” says Russell. “That’s winning my reps in Look Teams, taking notes or teaching points that I need for my technique to put myself out there.”
He is satisfied with what he has learned in the first months of a completely new sport. “Coming from rugby, where we think and move, I think I can really simplify and slow it down,” says Russell, “especially when it’s third and long in a pass rush: I know my job is to to get to the quarterback, so it becomes an instinctive move and I can just play fast. That would be my strength.
“My mistake is first when I have to think more: is it running or passing? That slows me down. I spend a lot more time thinking about what they’re going to do than I do about what I should do. The instinct is not there yet.”
Russell also misses being in the middle of the action every few minutes. “I always liked having the ball,” he says. “My strongest side was running with the ball. This is a completely new situation. I find love for a new position. I can’t say I wish I was a tight end or anything. I love it. It was a great experience.”
In theory, the IPP gives crossover athletes time to learn their new craft. However, recruiters realize that the younger they start, the better. “The program gives me three years, although they can’t say it will be three years,” Russell says. He was the ninth former rugby player to apply for the opportunity since Alex Gray, the former Irish player from Newcastle and London, opened the way in the second year of the IPP.
“I never want it to last three years,” says Russell. “My personal goal is to reach a point where I am in a normal practice position or even an active roster position. I want to see how far I can get as quickly as possible.”
The Patriots’ first post-Bill Belichick season was a horror show. The six-time Super Bowl winners and 11-time AFC champions have lost 11 of their 14 games under Jerod Mayo, five of them by a touchdown or less. With division winners Buffalo still to play home and away, things should get worse, but it’s highly unlikely the Pats will bottom out until Russell.
“I can’t say what their plan will be, but I can certainly be hopeful that this will be the situation,” Russell said. “They were very positive, which underlined how well I am progressing and how happy they are. I know what my mistakes are and what I need to work on, but I don’t make assumptions.”
That’s probably wise. Russell happily shares a home with newcomer Dell Pettus near the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium and is still trying to master a foreign culture. “The trial in Florida was the first time I was in America,” he says. “I’ve been living with the cold in Canberra for ten years and Boston is definitely more me: I was made for it.
“I’m one of the boys now and they treat me well, but I miss family and friends. It’s a completely different atmosphere. You can’t compare American personalities with Australians. We have a lot of larrikins, and there aren’t that many of them here. Maybe I need to find more of that audience.”