Football: Rayman prepares to jump into the NFL

The 24-year-old is trading relatively highly in the NFL draft, with the 32 teams selecting talent. The hope that you will be the first Austrian to play a competitive game in the NFL in 35 years is a good thing.

Because unlike some of his countrymen, he’s been playing in the US for years and has also benefited from the position change. In addition, he was not only invited to the Senior Bowl, an all-star game for college players, but also to the NFL Combine on Wednesday. That means Steinbrunner could present his skills to club representatives for a week in Indianapolis in March before the draft.

When the season culminates in and ends on Sunday with Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles between the local Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, two athletes from Austria, Sandro Platzgummer (New York Giants) and Bernhard Seikovits (Arizona Cardinals), also participated this season – but only in teams concerned training. For more than making appearances in the preparatory matches, it was not enough for the duo from Tyrol and Vienna.

The running back and tight end in the NFL came through the International Track Program. This platform allows non-US players to have a chance abroad. With Lionel Misangomokini, one of the successful players in home football in 1996 and 1997 resides in the United States, but athletes outside the United States are rarely given the confidence needed for competitive matches. Seikovits and Platzgummer only played in pre-season. The situation is different for Rayman, especially since he has been in the United States for a long time.

College Honors, High Drafting

The 24-year-old, who, like Seikovits, took his first significant steps in football with the Vienna Vikings, isn’t the first Austrian to act at the highest college level, but Raimann has turned into such a valuable player with the Central Michigan Chippewas playing the offensive line. For being named the 2021 Mid-American Conference Offensive Player by analyst firm Pro Football Focus at the end of this season.

The call to Senior Powell followed. Interventions that protect the midfielder are not considered stars, but they perform a very important task, and therefore are often chosen higher in the draft. Last but not least, NFL experts see it possible to include Rayman in one of the first talent selection rounds in April. An Austrian player was never selected in the draft, the three Fritsch, Lienhardt and Wersching all came to their teams without drafting.

Expert Daniel Jeremiah, the NFL Network’s “recruiting guru,” ranks Steinbrunner at number 28 on his talent list this year and could even see him pick 17. Other experts will probably be more cautious, but it says enough about the 2.01-meter man. , which weighs 138 kilograms. “He should be a reliable player at an early stage in his career,” confirmed Jeremiah, who, like many others, was impressed with his extraordinary career.

unusual profession

The remarkable thing: Rayman played this position for only two years and football for only ten years. According to Rayman himself, what Jeremiah calls a “wonderful story” began with a desire for more physical actions than football offered him. At the age of thirteen he saw the “oval ball” for the first time, after which it was going step by step. From the age of 14, Rayman played as a wide receiver for the Vikings, but soon went abroad as an exchange student.

“I was like, hey, I want to play Friday night (traditional high school football time). I thought this was going to be cool — and that was it,” Rayman said on the sidelines of the Senior Ball. Delton-Kellogg High School, and was so persuasive there that he got a job at Central Michigan in 2017. “Terrible Enfant” Antonio Brown and first NFL pick in 2013, Eric Fisher, who won the Super Bowl against Kansas Citi, did so before him, among others.

From the end of the court to the treatment

Raimann wasn’t even a tackle at that point, but he was playing as a court finish. As such, blocking is also part of the functionality, which should come in handy later on. Born with hand measurements for the position of center back, he accepted the call to re-train for 2020. Then the pandemic came, but Rayman managed to impress in just six games a season.

“Not only did he have the dimensions, but he also had the wit,” his coach Jim McElwain said. Athletic coach Joel Welch added: “He is a rare, self-motivated and independent person. He is a complete professional.” Rayman gained 20 kilograms in a short time due to his position.

Project in Las Vegas in April

Last Sunday, Rayman played for the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Where to start the draft is at least the event slogan. In a week of training with coaches from the NFL team, in his case the New York Jets, Raimann was able to continually improve and also appear in the game. What it lacks in experience, Rayman clearly makes up for with action.

The draft will take place in Las Vegas from April 28-30 this year. If luck doesn’t completely run out by then, Raymann will be the first Austrian to be selected in the talent lottery and certainly crown an exceptional career right now.