Former England rugby player Christian Wade is joining the Buffalo Bills after unexpectedly leaving Wasps in October.
The 27-year-old is is projected to compete for a running back spot in Buffalo's loaded backfield.
"I've been trying not to tear up all morning," Wade told Sky Sports News: "Obviously with the things I achieved in rugby, to then go and walk away from that to go and to do this, it's been huge.
"I don't think many people can understand how much this whole thing means to me," Wade continued: "To get that call today took me back a bit."
Wade has one cap for England and toured Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2013. After recording 99 tries in 165 games for Wasps between 2011-2018, the former winger said his passion for rugby had dipped and he wanted a new challenge.
“I’ve always loved rugby. I’ve played it for 15 years, I’ve traveled the world," Wade said in a January interview with the Guardian: "But I wasn’t loving it any more... It was becoming harder to motivate myself and I wanted to compete against the best athletes in the world.”
Wade will certainly get a chance to play alongside some of the sport's best athletes in Buffalo - teaming up with running backs LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore - but whether he will ever see the field is another question. Jarryd Hayne - a more high-profiled former rugby player from Australia - got just 23 touches after signing with the 49ers in 2015, per Pro Football Reference.
Wade's opportunity comes thanks to the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program. Created in 2017, the program affords players outside the US a chance to play in the league. Players are exempt from 90-man training camp rosters and can earn an extra spot on practice squads during the season. They can not be activated from the practice squad mid-season however.
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