NFL: Former Ulster Rugby player Aaron Sexton prepares for his American football audition

“At the start it was like learning a foreign language.”

After six years playing professional rugby with Ulster, Aaron Sexton made a major career decision when he decided to leave Belfast and pursue a dream of earning a contract to play in the NFL.

He is now coming to the end of a 10-week camp on the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme and preparing for Pro Day, a workout before league scouts and the one-off job opportunity he describes as “the fastest interview in the world”.

Sexton, 24, was selected as one of 18 hopefuls from 12 countries to be put through their paces in the IPP camp in Bradenton, Florida.

His class-mates now include two Irish kickers, Mark McNamee and Ross Bolger, who recently joined as specialist position candidates – as well as players from as far afield as Fiji, Argentina, Australia and Brazil.

“The facilities, staff and other players have all been amazing,” said Sexton on a rare rest day.

“It’s long days on and off the field but a great experience so far.

“Obviously, I didn’t have any football experience as I had come from rugby and a lot of the other guys are from similar situations – so we’ve all been learning the fundamentals of the game off the field and then implementing it on it.”

Even coming from the environment at Ulster, Sexton has been taken aback by the “level of detail” involved in an NFL playbook.

“We’re in the classroom every day. It’s been a lot of off-field learning. I played rugby for six years so I know what being a professional sportsman is like. I also thought I knew what a playbook was but when you see the difference…wow!

“At the start it was like learning a foreign language but once you start to pick up things, it does become easier. The level of detail is just something I hadn’t experienced before.”

Sexton has taken inspiration from previous IPP alumni, including former Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, who is currently on the roster of the Jacksonville Jaguars, as well as kicker Charlie Smyth from Newry, who has just completed a first season on the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad.

“I loved my time at Ulster,” said Sexton. “It was what I had wanted to do for a long time and had some success with it but when I saw the success of those guys before me [in the NFL], I just thought it was a ‘now or never’ thing.

“I’m 24 and if I was to wait any longer, there would be no chance for me.

“I would then hate to have that ‘what if’ in 20 years’ time that I could have made a career of it, so that was the reason for pulling the trigger now.”

Trying out in the positions of wide receiver and punt/kick returner, Sexton will need to convince the scouts that he has the physical attributes to make the grade.

As an 18 year-old schoolboy, he broke Irish national sprint records in the 100 and 200m, and believes that his raw speed, allied to his rugby ball-handling skills, make him a strong candidate to bridge the gap to playing in the NFL.

“There are definitely transferable skills,” he said. “There’s my speed and then the kick/punt returning is just like being in the backfield in rugby.

“At this stage, we’re just trying to refine them and fine-tune what we will be doing on the Pro Day. I just want to keep my physical shape and keep working – it’s all about getting both the body and mind right.”

Pro Day now looms large at the University of South Florida on 26 March, the big audition for the IPP class of 2025 in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams.

It is the moment when the dream of a playing contract in the NFL can be realised and Sexton knows, after the 10 weeks of intense preparation, the chance to impress will be fleeting.

“It’s the fastest job interview in the world!” he said.

“I know I will have to run a fast 40-yard dash and that’s the thing that could get me in the door but first it’s all the ‘measurables’ – weight, height, hand-size, wingspan and so on. Then comes the 225lb bench press, with as many reps as possible.

“Then it’s onto the vertical jump, broad jump and the 40-yard dash before we have some specific position drills. So, for me as a wide receiver, it will be specific routes.

“Yes – it will be intense!”