円盤投げ王者ストナがＮＦＬ挑戦へ パリ五輪で金

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】他競技の選手に米ナショナル・フットボール・リーグ（ＮＦＬ）球団と契約するチャンスが与えられる「インターナショナル・プレーヤー・パスウェイ（ＩＰＰ）」の来年度の参加者１４人が９日に発表され、パリ五輪の陸上男子円盤投げで金メダルに輝いたロジェ・ストナ（ジャマイカ）らが名を連ねた。（写真は陸上男子円盤投げのロジェ・ストナ）
　ストナは五輪新記録の７０メートル００でパリ五輪を制した２５歳。大学時代にアメフトの経験はなかったが、すでに５月にグリーンベイ・パッカーズとニューオーリンズ・セインツのミニキャンプに招待されていた。
　ＩＰＰのプログラムは２０１７年に開始され、米国外のアスリートにトップレベルでのトレーニングの機会を提供し、ＮＦＬでのキャリアをスタートさせることを目指している。
　先日には、ラグビーオーストラリア代表のスター選手であるジョーダン・ペタイア（２４）もＩＰＰ参加が発表された。
　ＩＰＰの参加者として選ばれた選手は、米フロリダ州ブラデントンのＩＭＧアカデミーで１０週間のトレーニングプログラムを開始し、来年３月にＮＦＬチームのスカウトの前でスキルを披露する。
　選手たちはフリーエージェントとして契約するか、有資格の場合は２０２５年のＮＦＬドラフトで指名されることが可能となる。各球団はプレシーズンキャンプ中に外国人選手のための特別登録枠が一つ認められ、その後選手は「育成枠」で契約することができる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/12/10-20:16）

Reigning Olympic discus champion Roje Stona of Jamaica was among 14 international athletes named Monday to the NFL's International Player Pathway's 2025 class, all hopeful of an American football career.
The 25-year-old Jamaican, who set a personal best and Olympic record of 70.0 meters to capture Paris gold, was invited to mini-camps last May by the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints after not playing American football in college.
The NFL global player program, which began in 2017, gives athletes from beyond US borders the opportunity to train at top levels in hopes of starting a gridiron career.
Australian Jordan Petaia, a 24-year-old rugby union star, was announced earlier this month as being among the group hoping to make the jump to the NFL.
Also coming from rugby union is Ireland's Aaron Sexton, a wing for Ulster, and Zimbabwe's T.J. Maguranyanga of French side ASM Clermont Auvergne.
The selected athletes will begin a 10-week training program on and off the field at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, then display their skills in March before NFL team scouts.
Players can be signed as free agents or taken in the 2025 NFL Draft if eligible, with each NFL team allowed one roster exemption for an international player during pre-season training and players then can be signed to a practice squad roster spot.
Past players have come from such sports as rugby, athletics, basketball and Gaelic football.
Others chosen for the program include Australian rugby league player Laitia Moceidreke and rugby union player Laki Tasi, Fijian rugby union player Jeneiro Wakeham, German offensive tackle Leander Wiegand, French cornerback Maceo Beard, French rugby union player Joachim Trouabal, New Zealand basketball player Nathaniel Salmon, British US college football safety Dante Barnett, British-Zambian defensive end Mapalo Mwansa and rugby union player Paschal Ekeji Jr., with a background from Lesotho, Nigeria and South Africa.
The Class of 2025 is an exciting one and we are delighted to welcome these talented athletes from around the world, NFL executive vice president international Peter O'Reilly.
Focusing on our global football development efforts and fostering international talent is crucial to growing our game globally.
Kickers and punters from other nations will join the group in the coming weeks.
Since the program began, 41 international athletes have signed with NFL clubs and 23 are currently on NFL rosters, including Britain's Efe Obada, a defensive end for the Washington Commanders, and Australian Jordan Mailata, an offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles who came from rugby league.