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Christian Wade's fledgling American football career given fresh hope after weekend blow


Christian Wade made the transition from rugby to NFL.
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Former England and Wasps winger Christian Wade has taken to Instagram after making the Buffalo Bills practice squad for the upcoming NFL season. 

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The 28-year-old failed to make the Bills’ 53-man roster over the weekend but he has been retained in the practise squad to develop over the coming year. 

He only started his career in American football at the beginning of 2019 with the international player pathway and was allocated to the Bills in April, so he is still raw in the sport. But his very first match in his new profession drew a lot of attention in Britain, as the speedster scored a stunning touchdown. 

However, while he did not do enough to earn a place for the 2019 NFL season, he said on Instagram that he is “looking forward to continuing learning and working even harder to develop as a football player!”

Wade thanked the Bills for keeping him on and praised his family as he pursues this unique career change. He also thanked the NFL “for seeing the potential, supporting me and helping me develop into a football player”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B189RjGAzEc/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

Given the impression that he has made in such a short time, it will be fascinating to see how much progress is made with an entire year with the Bills. 

Wade’s ability with the ball in hand was never questioned during his career in rugby where he finishing his stint as the Premiership’s third top try-scorer.

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Playing as a running back in American football, he has already showed what he is capable of with his touchdown in his very first carry. His natural running talent could make him a serious prospect as he comes to grips with his new sport.

WATCH: Christian Wade’s reaction when he was first called into the American football scene

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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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