NEW YORK (AP) Each of the NFC East teams will carry an international player on its practice squad in the upcoming season.
As part of its developmental program, the NFL has assigned Mexico’s Isaac Alarcon to Dallas, Germany’s David Bada to Washington, Australia’s Matt Leo to Philadelphia, and Austria’s Sandro Platzgummer to the New York Giants. The division was chosen as part of a random draw.
The clubs will carry these overseas players on their roster through training camp. At that time, the players are eligible for an international player practice squad exemption, granting the team an extra practice squad member who is ineligible to be activated during the 2020 season.
Of course, any of these players could actually make the team’s roster.
Three players that participated in the program in 2019 – Jakob Johnson (New England Patriots), Durval Queiroz Neto (Miami Dolphins) and Christian Wade (Buffalo Bills) – are returning to their AFC East teams for the upcoming season.
Alarcon plays tackle and represented Mexico at the U-19 World Championships. Defensive end Bada competed in the German Football League’s top division. Leo, also a defensive end, played rugby while growing up in Australia, and played football the last two years at Iowa State. Platzgummer is a running back who represented Austria on its U-19 team and competed on the senior team in the 2018 European Championships.
The International Player Pathway Program began in 2017 and aims to provide international athletes an opportunity to learn and compete at the NFL level.
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