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Jermaine Eluemunor is in his eighth season as an NFL player and has played in 98 games [Getty Images]
It was a miserable Sunday afternoon late in October 2007.
The rain was pouring down in London so Jermaine Eluemunor was chilling at home on Chalk Farm’s Ferdinand Street housing estate.
The 12-year-old was flicking through TV channels when he stumbled upon a sport he’d never seen before.
Now 29, he says “it was a complete and utter accident”. It changed his life.
‘I had no idea what I was going to do with my life’
Born and bred in north London, Eluemunor had enjoyed playing rugby. This sport was kind of like that, but it was different.
The physicality of the players, the helmets they wore – Eluemunor was hooked, and he became an instant fan of the winning team, the New York Giants.
Eluemunor was watching the first regular-season NFL game to be played in Europe, just nine miles away at Wembley Stadium.
“I had no idea about American football before that,” he told BBC Sport. “I had no intention of finding it on the TV.
“I always say that it was God because I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I had no true goals or direction.
“I knew I loved sports but I couldn’t play soccer because I was too big. I loved basketball but it’s hard to become a professional living in London.
“One time at secondary school, it was funny, but the Royal Air Force came in on a career day so I was thinking about joining the RAF.
“So finding that game was a stroke of luck. I’m always grateful that a spur of the moment thing gave me a goal to strive for.”
‘I quit flag football – I wanted to hit someone’
Eluemunor found the London Blitz and tried flag football – the non-contact version of the sport which will be in the 2028 Olympics.
But he “ended up quitting because it wasn’t physical enough”.
“I wanted to hit someone,” he said.
After returning to rugby, Eluemunor had a successful trial with London Scottish, but left for the United States a month later at just 14.
He went to high school in New…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/could-joined-raf-now-im-095151834.html
Author : BBC
Publish date : 2024-11-28 09:51:00
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