The LRZ tracker thread (/general IPP thread)

[Leonormous Boozer]

Presumably he comes back in the 26/27 season and eventually says it was all for the cash while getting exposure to some of the best S&C programs in the world.

He doesn't come across as the full deck of cards so maybe he is convinced (or is too embarrassed to admit otherwise) that he has a chance or that it was actually the dream of a kid from the valleys

 

[Welsh Exile]

Presumably he comes back in the 26/27 season and eventually says it was all for the cash while getting exposure to some of the best S&C programs in the world.

He doesn't come across as the full deck of cards so maybe he is convinced (or is too embarrassed to admit otherwise) that he has a chance or that it was actually the dream of a kid from the valleys

What I've always found a bit odd is how he's been public about saying this is his dad's dream and all he wants to do is make his dad proud. Fair play obviously and each to their own but personally I'd rather my son choose his own path and not be worried about what I want or think but I guess he'll say their dreams are aligned which is fine obviously.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Always thought all the interviews with him saying how he'd have traded all of his career away for NFL and it was always his dream over rugby to be very....cringe/disingenuous - obviously he's gonna play it up for the Press, but just felt a bit off, no one else said anything like that

If he cared even a fraction as much about AF as he claims then he'd have played it at some point as a kid, and probably tried to go to an American Uni to play, leveraging his age grade rugby career into a scholarship of some description

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Baseball is also the most boring sport known to man.

You're not wrong there.

As for LRZ, I just think it's a bit sad when someone chooses almost certain failure over using a real talent that's got them to the pinnacle of a sport (that's played in more than one country….).

But he'll have his own reasons. Just hope he's been honest with people and continues to be if he does come back which I'd guess would be an inevitably at some point.

 

[dirty harry]

I haven't really seen anything that indicates he doesn't qualify for the roster spot, but I may be wrong. My reading of it is he doesn't have to be IPP, just an international player.

LRZ will probably realistically never play a regular season game, and that was always odds on the case. His fight to stay in the NFL isn't really with anyone but other international players.


On the other topic in this thread, it's taking a battering, but I really enjoy American football. I do understand the complicated rules and the stoppages are fairly prohibitive to newcomers, but it can be fascinating to watch and it is so tactical at the top level. There are freak athletes in every position, and stuff like Redzone makes it very easy to enjoy imo. Each to their own though, people will call American Football boring then go watch golf for 7 hours. I personally would rather pour liquid mercury in my urethra. Baseball is also the most boring sport known to man.

I enjoy it too, I like the connection to fans, that tactical nature, and the idea that despite freaks of nature performing in very specific positions it is essentially a game of chess.

I get why people struggle with it, it has the same barriers as rugby, it really isn't something a newbie can just watch and get into, rules are super complex, and play is difficult to understand.

Rugby and AF parallels are always surface level, I can tell you now that next to 0% of bigger AF players could handle 8 minutes of rugby, and even the biggest props would be humiliated in the NFL.

I agree with whoever said if LRZ loved AF so much he would have played it, Universities have massive AF leagues in BUCS these days, and there are more and more community teams.

As for the family, they are extremely close nit, his dad is a bit brutal on him, I've sat in the sauna with him praising LRZ for his try v Ireland and his dad's response was 'the tart nearly got caught by a prop'. His dad is a very doting father though, doesn't like the WRU very much, very typical welahman lol.

I wouldn't be surprised if the family do a Kardashian type TV show, I get the feeling this move is about leveling up.

I also don't know anyone wanting him to fail, of course Welsh fans want him back, but fair play to him, you get one life go and try everything once.