Former rugby player becomes the heaviest athlete in the NFL

A former rugby player from Australia has become the heaviest player in the NFL after getting drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round.

Daniel Faalele grew up playing rugby union and basketball in Melbourne but was lured by the bright lights of the NFL after the enormous athlete piqued the interest of American football scouts in 2017.

Even by the standards of the NFL, Faalele is a colossus. The 22-year-old stands 6'8 and tips the scales at a jaw-dropping 174kg (384Ibs), or 27 stone in Imperial.

He is the fifth heaviest player in NFL history according to The Washington Post.

He will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Australian giant - Jordan Mailata - whose meteoric rise in America's game seems to have set a mini-trend in recruitment whereby scouts are seeking to unearth outsized athletes from Australasia.

The 6'8, 157kg Mailata swapped a potential career in the NRL for a shot at the NFL's International Player Pathway. It was a decision that paid off, with Mailata now earning $16,000,000 dollars a year as a regular starter for the Philidelphia Eagles.

Minnesota Golden Gophers offensive lineman Daniel Faalele (78) looks down on West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Jared Bartlett (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The trail has certainly been blazed for the aspiring Faalele, who has already come long way since playing rugby union in Victoria as a teenager.

According to one anecdote in The Canberra Times, Faalele shunned rugby union as he didn't enjoy injuring teammates and opponents in the tackle as a teenager. At 13 years of age he was 5'11 and 100kg, resulting in concerned parents from opposing teams accusing him of being over age and refusing to let their average-sized children play against him.

He was first scouted by the University of Hawaii, before being sent to the IMG Academy in Florida, where he was tutored in a game he was more or less completely unfamiliar with. Head of football at the programme, Kevin Wright, told ESPN in an interview that the monstrous Australian was the “only human I’ve ever met in person who was that size was Shaquille O’Neal”.

Although still considered to be learning his trade, he found his feet as an offensive linesman in college football, where he brought his rugby experience to bear, even carrying the ball on occasion.

While his size has seen him jump the queue in the sport, it's safe to say he wouldn't have been drafted had he not shown promise beyond the scope of the recruiters' measuring tape and weighing scale. The hopes are that he will continue to develop on the Ravens' NFL roster, a franchise well known to favour outsized athletes in their offensive line.

Time will tell but the future looks bright.