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Although the United States is a country of immigrants, the National Football League is still led by US-born athletes. Only 5% of players are born abroad, and most of them enter the game by attending college in the United States. Genuine outsiders are rare, and coaches from abroad are especially rare, which makes James Cook’s journey remarkable.

James Cook’s Surprising Journey to the NFL

Cook has been in control of player development at the Browns organization. This is an accomplishment in itself, but it’s incredible considering he was raised in Surrey, is in his late 20s, and never participated in professional sport. Cook first saw the NFL as a teenager while channel-flicking with his father and came across what he called a “weird and wonderful” game. He started playing in his area and quickly wanted to become the first NFL QB from Europe. He got as far as playing for Great Britain, but his dreams to attend college in the US were too expensive.

“I was scooping popcorn, cleaning seats, flipping burgers, doing a bit of everything. Whenever the NFL guys needed me, I would switch my shifts and help out. As a quarterback, the key skill I had was I could throw. So when they worked out with players, I’d show up all over London and toss the ball to them. I wasn’t paid, but they’d often get me lunch.”

It was here that he encountered Aden Durde, who had stints with the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs during his playing days before he set up the International Player Pathway program in 2017 with two-time championship winner Osi Umenyiora. When Durde became part of the staff at the Atlanta Falcons, making history as the first British permanent coach in NFL history, Cook assumed control of the IPP. “I enjoyed a lot of fun with it, coaching some remarkable guys,” he recalls. “We had Rees-Zammit; Clayton, who was selected by Buffalo; Smyth, the kicker from the Emerald Isle who’s now with the New Orleans. I went to Down Under to train aspiring athletes from around the Pacific to get them into college football, similar to what I had hoped to do.”

Transitioning to NFL Coaching

Like his predecessor before him, Cook made the jump from working with foreign players to coaching in the NFL. “The Browns contacted me unexpectedly,” he says. “They had a multi-faceted position assisting younger players, maximising time on the practice field, working closely with physios, the coach and GM. It’s a very hands-on position, which is ideal for me. My experience was working with players from abroad who had not played the game. First-year newcomers also have to build habits and routines: how to look after their body and handle a huge playbook. But also just being present for guys. That’s the same everywhere. And I enjoy that.”

Is being an Brit who did not compete in the NFL hold him back? “It’s largely a imagined hurdle than an actual one,” states Cook. “I’ve had a lot of Lasso-style jokes and loads of players refer to me as ‘mate’ as they like that. It’s more about monitoring my language. I say ‘trash can’ not ‘rubbish bin’. But we get nervous or stressed about the similar things and require help in the identical ways. If players know you can assist them, they don’t care where you’re from or what accent. And when players realize that you care, all the rest melts away.”

Benefits of Coming From Outside the NFL Bubble

Coming from outside the American football world has its upsides. “I spoke in front of the entire team very early on, and, as we left, one of our offensive linemen asked me about rugby with me as he enjoys it. You build those bonds and form friendships. Teammates are genuinely intrigued. NFL organizations are varied than many think. We have staff from various backgrounds, a variety of upbringings. Our saying at IPP was: ‘Stand out – you are different so embrace it.’ It’s something to be proud of.”

The NFL has been more successful at attracting foreign fans than nurturing foreign players. Mailata, a former rugby player from Sydney who won the Super Bowl recently with the Philadelphia Eagles, is among the rare IPP players to have made it to the elite level.

International Players and Their Journeys

Foreign players have usually been specialists, recruited from different sports. Bobby Howfield swapped soccer for English clubs for being a kicker for the Denver Broncos and New York Jets; Luckhurst graduated from rugby union in St Albans to the Falcons roster. If you do not want to be a kicker and were not trained in the US college system, it’s extremely difficult to make the leap to the NFL.

Oyelola, a Londoner who played for Chelsea’s youth team before finding American football at Nottingham University, has made that step. He played in the CFL for the Blue Bombers before moving to the Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pircher’s story is equally unlikely. At 6ft 7in and 23 stone, the Italian was clearly not built for his preferred games, football and the sport, so took up the NFL in his late teens. He stood out while representing clubs in Austria and Germany, as well as the national side, and was offered a spot on the IPP in 2021.

A year later, he had his hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a part of the Rams training team. Pircher went on to have periods on the periphery at the Detroit Lions, Seahawks and Commanders, before he joined the Vikings at the late summer. He has been popular in every locker room but is hasn’t had game time on the gridiron. Is his status as a foreigner still a hurdle?

“It’s not really difficult, not a barrier,” says the 26-year-old. “We have players from all different states, so it doesn’t really matter. At first, they inquire: ‘You speak differently – what’s your background?’ But, after we have that figured out, we’re teammates. The Vikings have a really welcoming culture, a great team, a top organization.”

Despite spending most of training with his other offensive linemen, Pircher has thrown himself into the team dynamics at his teams. “Obviously the offensive line is consistently close-knit because we are a unit and altogether one, but we have mates from all positions. My best friend, Akers – my wedding witness, actually – was a receiver at the LA. The specialist from the Green Bay, Matt Orzech, is a close pal: we lived together for a while at the LA Rams. QBs, defensive linemen, specialists: we’ve have to be supportive.”

Inspiring the Future

Pircher is aware he represents more than just Italy and Austria. “In my view every nation outside the US. The more successful each one of us does, the greater number of young people who participate in Italy, in Europe, wherever, can realize: ‘It can be done – if I put the work in every day, I can succeed.’ I have a lot of youngsters hitting me up, asking for tips. It’s nice to encourage them to pursue what I’ve experienced.”

The program alumni are welcomed to Florida annually to coach the new group of potential NFL internationals. “Almost all of us return