NFL pathways a 'new opportunity' for aspiring Pacific athletes

"We’re built for this."

That's National Football League (NFL) scout Jason Vaka, talking about why the Pacific talent pool across New Zealand and Australia is ready to make the grade in American football.

According to US media​, there are currently over 200 Polynesian players in the NFL and on a per captia basis players of Pacific descent are 28 more times likely to become professional footballers than other ethnicities.

Vaka is a scout for the NFL in the Asia/Pacific region and says a sport like the NFL almost comes as second nature to many Pacific young people.

“With our Pacific and Māori athletes here in our community – we’re built for the sport!" he says.

And popularity in the NFL is a growing across the region, with more and more Pacific athletes looking into opportunities in American football, as opposed to rugby and rugby league.

The NFL draws in an average 16 million viewers over the season and for a contracted athlete, the median wage is around US$860,000 (NZ$1,300,000). In contrast, the NRL has a 2.76 million viewership per year, with the median wage being a mere AUD$63,000 (NZ$67,000).

Vaka, who has been involved with the sport for over 30 years, also creates pathway programmes to prepare athletes for playing in America.

"[My work is about] letting the athletes know look here's a different opportunity - I always tell the athletes, 'give it a crack', if it doesn't go forward, you can go back to rugby and league.

"You can imagine that the NFL presence hasn't been here at all, especially actively scouting athletes from New Zealand or Australia or the South Pacific."

Vaka oversees talent across New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and the Pacific – as a scout for the NFL's International Pathways Programme.

Former age-group NRL player Jordan Mailata emerged from this programme, signing with the Philadelphia Eagles and going on to play in the 2023 Super Bowl.​

Hundreds of athletes are scouted from around the world to take part in the programme, which includes in a combine in London that tests the athletes' physical abilities. From there, 12-15 athletes are invited to a training camp - where only four are chosen to sign with an NFL team.

Apart with Mailata, three more​ of his fellow programme participants are also close from signing with an NFL club, after being shortlisted for the camp. The three recruits are Etuali Lui and Talitaga Amosa of Samoan descent and Patrick Murtagh of Papua New Guinea.

Vaka says providing opportunities like these for Pacific athletes to edge closer to the NFL will help themselves, their families and their communities in the long run.

"At the end of the day the worst thing to happen is them to come back with a degree. We all want our kids to come back with a college degree from USC, from Oregon, to have that plaque is something to be proud of. ​

"When our athletes go through, they end up being a role model for their community, for their country, for their island, for their village! Because it's all about representing your family.

"With the NFL and what they bring - generational wealth for that family. It's a different space, it's that realization being a hero amongst your family and bringing awareness that anything is possible."