International Player Pathway Program

The International Player Pathway was not the first initiative by the NFL to introduce foreign talent into its pool of players and neither is it, as yet, the longest running. The first such program was the NFL International Development Practice Squad Program that ran between 2004 and 2009. Following a short hiatus of seven years there was a single incarnation of NFL Undiscovered in 2016 and building immediately on the success of that trial the IPP was instituted in 2017.

In 2017, potential applicants to NFL Undiscovered were asked to meet specific requirements and were advised to follow a particular application process.[6] Some of these criteria have either changed over time or there is some discretion applied during the selection process, as not all the athletes that have come through the program in the intervening years meet all of the following criteria.

• age 24 or younger
• out of high school (or equivalent) for at least four years
• did not play American football at a US college
• experience of playing American football is desirable but not essential (multiple rugby union and rugby league players were accepted into the program)
• English language is essential because of the short timeframe being worked to
• not a citizen of the US
• not a citizen of Canada
• must be available and eligible to travel to the US for two months from the first week in March

Applicants were asked to email all of the following material to the NFL by midnight UK time on the first Sunday in March.

• video of the applicant doing a vertical jump, a box jump, and a timed 40-yard (37 m) dash
• links to any relevant footage such as workouts, football film, or other sports footage
• details of age, height, and weight
• full contact details

The NFL has specific regulations for players that sign through the IPP. The teams to which each IPP player is assigned are allowed 91 players[7] on their off-season rosters, one more than those teams that are not participating in the IPP that year. At the point when these rosters need to be cut to 53 (at the end of pre-season), the participating teams must decide the status of their IPP players.[8][9][10]

First, the team can keep their IPP player on their 53-man roster. If they waive the player, he goes through the NFL's waiver system, which allows him to be claimed by another team. If he clears waivers, the team can sign the player to their practice squad. If they do, they may elect to take an exemption for the IPP player, giving them an extra spot on their practice squad. If they utilize the exemption, that player cannot be signed to the active roster of any team during the season. If the exemption is declined, the player is treated like any other practice squad player, and can be promoted to a team's active roster. If the player chooses to sign with a team other than the one to which he was assigned, that team may not claim the exemption.

The IPP began in 2017 when four players (Alex Gray, Alex Jenkins, Efe Obada, and Eric Nzeocha) signed with NFL teams.[11][12][13] The program was continued in 2018,[14] 2019,[15][16][17][18] and 2020.

• Foreign players in the National Football League