From 8-man football to competitive CrossFit, some prospects took a different road to the NFL draft

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Virginia safety Jonas Sanker took a somewhat unconventional path to this week's NFL draft. He initially drew the interest of college scouts while playing high school basketball in Charlottesville, Virginia, but then emerged as a star in eight-man football. Sanker's rapid ascension from fast-break-style prep games to college captain to the cusp of a pro career sounds more like Hollywood, but Sanker has made it this far with hard work. "I tried to make the most of it and then the transition to college is a little bit of a learning curve," he said, describing the move from his high school's narrower field to a regulation-sized college field. "But I was willing to learn." Sanker fine-tuned his skills in a game that features three fewer players on offense and defense, everyone is an eligible receiver and the potential for high-scoring games is a constant. This version is attractive to schools that lack enough bodies to be competitive in the traditional 11-man style of football. And with concussion concerns growing and the number of players declining, more schools seem to be opting for a game that typically produces fewer injuries because there are fewer interior line collisions. It also appears to be opening another door to the NFL. If Sanker makes a roster this fall, he will join a short list of eight-man alums who have played in the NFL since 2017 that includes Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown, recently retired Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, and former running back Tarik Cohen. Finding players who haven't taken the traditional journeys is hardly a new phenomenon in a world that rewards creativity, athleticism and innovation. Former receiver "Bullet" Bob Hayes joined the Dallas Cowboys after winning the 100-meter dash at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He's still the only player to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. Former world-record hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah played three seasons with San Francisco in the 1980s and former NFL career rushing champ Jim Brown was a multisport star at Syracuse before joining the Cleveland Browns. Australian kickers and punters have become the norm in college football and are dotting the NFL landscape now, too. And position players are now being found more routinely in Europe and Africa. This year's draft class follows the trend. Tight end Elijah Arroyo of Miami faced a different kind of adjustment after playing six seasons of football in Mexico, where he learned how to play the game with a Spanish playbook. When his family moved back to Texas while he was in high school, Arroyo found himself competing against bigger, stronger, more polished opponents while learning the playbooks in English. "I feel like the sport of football in Mexico grew a lot throughout my years there," he said. "I learned the game in Spanish first, which was pretty cool, and then I came back over and I realized how similar things were. It's still the same sport, it's still football." This year's most unique story may come from defensive end Ahmed Hassanein, who went from football novice at age 16 to two-time all-conference selection at Boise State. He moved to Egypt with his father at age 6 and used sports as an outlet to help guide him through his parents' separation. Hassanein tried ping pong, jujutsu and basketball before thriving at CrossFit, which focuses on high-intensity, functional movements that constantly vary. It was a perfect introduction for him to the skills he'd need later when, after a decade, his brother, a semi-pro player in Austria, broke the silence and convinced Hassanein to give American football a shot. Now the guy who was Egypt's No. 1 CrossFit athlete, ranked No. 10 in Africa, is just a few days from finding out where he'll land in the NFL. "I didn't know what I was doing at the beginning," Hassanein said. "One day I didn't even know what the NFL was. One day I was watching Aaron Donald play and I was like, what high school does he go to. My brother was like, 'Bro, that's the NFL'. I was like, 'The NFL? What's that?'" He certainly knows now. And from Egypt to North America, football fans are likely to get to know their stories, too. "It's a little overwhelming at first, but, you know, just meeting so many people and just, really taking everything in, it's cool to just be here," Sanker said. "So I'm grateful for the opportunity and looking to make the the most of it."