Newz Forum: OTHER: British sprint champ considers NFL

British sprint champ Dwain Chambers looks at the possibility of a career in American Football if he is banned from Athletics.Chambers tested positive for the steroid THG last august and faces up to a two year ban.

A hearing is scheduled for February where Chambers will appear before the UK Athletics board.If Chambers was to be banned,he obviously would need to earn a living and American Football is a big possibility and is one thing he may be able to adapt to.It has happened in the past where sprint hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah played for the San Fransisco 49ers for five years and even won the Superbowl.

If he were to goto the NFL, would he play WR? If he were to goto the NFL he would have to have some experience playing. Do you know if he does have experience?

Originally posted by Ben
If he were to goto the NFL, would he play WR? If he were to goto the NFL he would have to have some experience playing. Do you know if he does have experience?

No he has no experience but he thinks he could turn his hand to it pretty quick,he is a powerfully built man and he can run the 100m in about 9.87 secs so he is pretty damm fast, i guess a WR would be the only posistion for him to play due to his speed.

He is pretty fast, but it isnt always about speed in the NFL, not all WR are really fast you have to have skill in recongizing the defensive set-ups and cutting and your hands are a really big factor, and if you are able to take a hit cutting across the middle.

I understand that,you coundn't just jump straight in but it sounds like he would be willing to learn,he must think he would be able to do it otherwise why say about it.

Well he will be willing to do it, but he should really start out in NFL europe cause he will just get creamed if he trys to go to the NFL.

He should definaly do something before jumping to the NFL, looks like he has better luck than the other sprinter who was tested postive for steriods.

he btter get one good trainer to help him out if he decides to do this

He should put some meat on his bones as well, if he is a sprinter he is probably very skinny, and as a WR if he runs across the middle one of those LB's will tear him in half.

Freak he is definatly not skinny LOL!

Sprinter Dwain Chambers has taken the first steps towards a new career in the NFL.The 25-year-old sprinter was put through his paces at Crystal Palace on Thursday and is expected to take part in a training camp at Tampa in the United States on February 23.

*Quotes from Tony Allen, the director of game development for NFL Europe*

"Dwain's speed means that he has a great head start in converting to American football.

"From what we have seen, he has definite potential as a wide receiver - and we will work with Dwain to give him every chance of fulfilling that potential. We are really excited about what we have seen so far."

tampa is taking a big chance now. lol

I think he has a good chance to make it,he has speed,agility,focus and power.

He is not a small man and would be up for the physical challenge and as said its not the first time a Athlete has made it in NFL.

Its all over the papers today i found one story on it,looks like you've been following it for a few weeks now.

News Story Link.

The one on the left.

woah, i was thinking it was somebody else, he does look like another sprinter like micheal johson or something like that

Yeah he does look like him(Michael Johnson) ,thing is aswell he is a bit bigger than that now,thats not a real new photo of him.

i didnt realzie he was that big at all either, he is pretty big for a sprinter

Well you see what i mean now he has the speed,he is well built and has the agility..The guy is like a well oiled machine..

All he has to do now is learn the plays and how to catch the damm ball lol!

European 100metres champion Dwain Chambers will not travel to the United States for an American football training camp until after his drugs hearing this week.Chambers, who failed a test for the designer steroid THG last August, recently announced that if he is banned from athletics, a new career was beckoning in gridiron.The sprinter claims he never knowingly used a steroid and his defence team will state his case at a UK independent disciplinary committee hearing in London on Thursday.Chambers was to fly out to the States this weekend to take part in an NFL training camp next week, but it is possible the verdict from his hearing could be delayed.

British sprinter Dwain Chambers has been banned from competition for two years after being found guilty of taking the anabolic steroid THG. Chambers, the European 100m champion, will also be prevented from competing in another Olympic Games.

Dwain Chambers is continuing to protest his innocence after being found guilty of failing a drugs test and banned from the sport for two years.He has 60 days to do so, a possibility his solicitor has not ruled out.

Chambers will only be 27 years old when a two-year ban expired, the chances of a successful return to the track would seem slim. Linford Christie took Olympic gold at 32, and won the World 100m title at 33. But Chambers finds himself automatically excluded from any future British Olympic team under BOA rules. Precedent suggests that he would struggle to make any sort of impact on his return from the athletics wilderness. For the last few years, Chambers has been one of the biggest draws on the athletics circuit. But few sponsors want a disgraced athlete at their meet. Those profitable invitations would soon dry up.

So what now for Chambers?

Chambers has already had a try-out with NFL Europe coaches and was due to fly to Tampa next week to receive one-on-one tuition at an NFL training camp. Whether he could actually make it into the professional leagues is another matter. One athletics insider has already dismissed his chances as a mere publicity stunt designed to keep him in the public eye,but some sprinters have had some success in converting into American football players.

The 1964 Olympic 100m champion Bob Hayes won a Super Bowl championship during a 10-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, while former 110 metres hurdles world champion Renaldo Nehemiah won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the 1984 San Francisco 49ers. Also in 1985, Willie Gault, part of the USA's gold medal-winning 100m relay team in Los Angeles, was a wide receiver on the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl-winning team.

Banned sprinter Dwain Chambers has no intention of returning to athletics.

European 100metres record holder Chambers tested positive for the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) in an out-of-competition sampling in August. The B sample also tested positive, and he was banned for two years from November.His appeal was rejected in February, and he was given the right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. But, according to his management company, he may not even take up that option.