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globalrugbyleague - Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:56:00 GMTA former gridiron player is set to make his Rugby League debut after signing a deal with National League One club, the Celtic Crusaders.
Phillipe Gardent - a 28-year-old Frenchman - joined his new club after playing four seasons in the NFL including a stint with the Washington Redskins and European club, Cologne.
According to the BBC, the ex-linebacker was spotted by the Crusaders' fitness and conditioning coach Thibault Giroud.
Coach John Dixon is positive that Gardent will not turn out to be another Greg Smith.
"He's a talented athlete who'll compare well with anyone in the sport," Dixon told the BBC.
"He's intelligent and a very strong player, so we hope he'll pick the game up quickly and make a valuable contribution to our campaign.
Greg Smith was supposedly a former Philadelphia Eagles NFL player who recieved an invitation from then Newcastle Knights coach, Warren Ryan, to make his League debut against Canterbury-Bankstown in 1999.
However Smith's short supply of skills were quickly and brutally exposed.
For a man who claimed he’d played two seasons in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995 and 1996, played 34 NFL games and scored 6 touchdowns, his NRL debut attracted plenty of attention.
However after Sunday Telegraph reporter Barry Toohey did some research of his own, Smith’s performance during the Knights 28-26 loss to Canterbury made a lot of sense.
Two of Philadelphia’s major newspapers said they’d never heard of Greg Smith. Smith was let go mid-season and has yet to re-appear in Rugby League since. - Read More, Here
Phillipe Gardent - a 28-year-old Frenchman - joined his new club after playing four seasons in the NFL including a stint with the Washington Redskins and European club, Cologne.
According to the BBC, the ex-linebacker was spotted by the Crusaders' fitness and conditioning coach Thibault Giroud.
Coach John Dixon is positive that Gardent will not turn out to be another Greg Smith.
"He's a talented athlete who'll compare well with anyone in the sport," Dixon told the BBC.
"He's intelligent and a very strong player, so we hope he'll pick the game up quickly and make a valuable contribution to our campaign.
Greg Smith was supposedly a former Philadelphia Eagles NFL player who recieved an invitation from then Newcastle Knights coach, Warren Ryan, to make his League debut against Canterbury-Bankstown in 1999.
However Smith's short supply of skills were quickly and brutally exposed.
For a man who claimed he’d played two seasons in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1995 and 1996, played 34 NFL games and scored 6 touchdowns, his NRL debut attracted plenty of attention.
However after Sunday Telegraph reporter Barry Toohey did some research of his own, Smith’s performance during the Knights 28-26 loss to Canterbury made a lot of sense.
Two of Philadelphia’s major newspapers said they’d never heard of Greg Smith. Smith was let go mid-season and has yet to re-appear in Rugby League since. - Read More, Here