# Football ---\> rugby? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647 "2019-10-29T15:29:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/1 "2019-10-29T15:29:53Z")
I’ve read of rugby players (such as [this giant](https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/too-big-for-rugby-eagles-tackle-mailata-is-ready-for-nfl-090518)) making the transition to N.F.L. football from rugby. Are there any stories of professional football players switching to rugby (I just thought of one [college player](https://www.florugby.com/articles/5061594-washington-lb-psalm-wooching-leaves-football-behind-for-rugby-career) who did so)? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/2 "2019-10-29T15:36:36Z")
Nathan Ebner, a safety for the New England Patriots, later played rugby for the U.S. national rugby team. > **[Nate Ebner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Ebner)** > > Nathan Ebner (born December 14, 1988) is an American football safety and special teamer who is a free agent, and a rugby sevens player for the United States national rugby sevens team. > Ebner played rugby union (15-a-side) on the US Under-19 and Under-20 national teams, and was named MVP for the teams at both the 2007 and 2008 IRB Junior World Championships. He later played rugby sevens for the US national team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. > Despite not having played high school football, in his... ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/3 "2019-10-29T15:49:14Z")
In reading the article about the college football player who switched to rugby, it notes that he had actually started out playing rugby as a kid in Hawaii, and only started playing football in high school. It also notes that he’d also been playing rugby through high school (he was on the US junior rugby team), and while he was in college at Washington (where it’s a club sport). So, his example is more about changing focus than it is switching to a new sport. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/4 "2019-10-29T17:36:56Z")
The top of the list has to be Perry Baker. From an almost non-existent NFL carree and early injury he became a ridiculously good 7s player. He’s at another level. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/5 "2019-10-29T17:42:05Z")
And right there in the wikipedia page for Nate Ebner is a link to this wikipedia page: [List\_of\_players\_who\_have\_converted\_from\_one\_football\_code\_to\_another](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_who_have_converted_from_one_football_code_to_another) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/6 "2019-10-29T21:06:07Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > And right there in the wikipedia page for Nate Ebner is a link to this wikipedia page: > [List\_of\_players\_who\_have\_converted\_from\_one\_football\_code\_to\_another](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_who_have_converted_from_one_football_code_to_another) That article notes something that I had intended to add to this thread: that there have been a number of Australian football players who have played in the NFL, mostly over the past 25 years, and mostly as punters, with Darren Bennett being the first real breakthrough Australian punter. The Aussies have transformed how punting is done in the US, particularly the introduction of the “drop punt,” which has almost entirely replaced the old “coffin corner” punt when one is punting from within the opponent’s end of the field. It’s somewhat reminiscent of how European and Latin American soccer players became NFL placekickers in the 1960s and 1970s, and completely changed the style of kicking in the U.S. In both cases, what we see/saw were players who were likely skilled all-around players in their original sports, who became specialists when they came to the NFL. My suspicion is that, while there are some similarities between rugby, Australian football, and American football, the games are different enough that it’s exceedingly hard to change to a new sport (that you have played little, or at all, while younger), and to get good enough at it to play it at a professional level, even if you are a tremendously gifted athlete. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-rugby/842647/7 "2019-10-30T07:38:43Z")
Not like many skills are comparable or transferable from especially Union to the NFL. Rugby has no blocking or forward pass and it has a running clock. Tackle ends a play in NFL and there are no scrums, rucks and mauls.