The Roar talks American football with Aussie pioneer Colin Scotts

Colin Scotts, the Aussie pioneer who played college football and NFL in the 1980s, rates Melbourne Storm winger and try-scoring genius Suliasi Vunivalu as the NRL player who would be most likely to succeed in the NFL if he had a crack.

The Roar talked one-on-one with Scotts on the eve of the College Football Sydney Cup between the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the University of California Golden Bears at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

The former rugby union player from Sydney was awarded a scholarship at the University of Hawaii before being drafted into the NFL as a defensive end with the St Louis cardinals.

The Roar: How much does Saturday’s game mean in terms of growing further interest in American football in Australia?

Colin Scotts: It’s massive, and thank you Jarryd Hayne for boosting that interest with what he did last year.

I guess I was a pioneer 35 years ago, when there wasn’t social media or even Fox Sports, but the word gets out quick these days and there’s interest from five-year-olds to grandpas.

There is amazing interest here in American sports in general and the NFL and college football have really caught the imagination.

This is a real game to start off the season and it’s a privilege and an honour that we’ve got this. A lot of cities wanted it and to have the first game, that’s a big deal for us.

There will be 30 million Americans watching it on TV in the US, a massive crowd at ANZ and it looks like the sun is going to be shining. Hopefully, this will set the tone for plenty more games to come down here, including the NFL.

The Roar: That’s the most important thing, isn’t it, that it’s an actual meaningful game as opposed to a pre-season game, like the one the NFL brought down here in 1999?

CS: It was a shocker in 1999, pre-season, and the beautiful thing about the college football is that there’s a lot of soul in this, a lot of passion.

The band’s playing and it just creates a great atmosphere and, yeah, they’re playing for the real deal. They know they’ve got 30 million Americans watching them as well, so everyone’s on edge. I’m going to be speaking to the Hawaiian team before they run out, so don’t expect them to come out throwing handbags.

The Roar: There will be people in the crowd who are experts, or at least consider themselves experts, plus casual observers and others who have no idea but have come along for a look. What sort of effect do you think a game like this can have on the public here?

CS: I hope that the ones who aren’t so familiar do try to understand it, because once you know the rules, even a little bit, you just fall in love with it and become addicted to it.

There are basic similarities to rugby league, which has the five tackles and then you kick. In the American football offence you’ve got the four attempts and you’ve got to make the 10 yards and if you don’t, you punt, so there are similarities and it’s the same in defence.

You blitz when you want to put pressure on, but it opens things up downfield. It’s armoured chess with a beautiful rhythm to it.

For Australians new to watching the game it can be frustrating, trying to understand it, but at the same time the game has gotten a lot faster, as has rugby league and a lot of sports. They’re throwing the ball a lot more than just running it and the game has become a lot more entertaining.

I just say to Australians ‘be a little bit patient and you’ll get caught up in it’. This game in Sydney, what a proud moment, and for my old college to come out 35 years later and be fired up about playing here, it’s great.

The Roar: You don’t hear those old complaints – the game is too long, it’s too much stop-start – so much now, which is great for the game. Plenty of people in Australia absolutely love it.

CS: That’s right and you’re also seeing a lot of no huddle now in the offence, so everything has sped up. We just needed a faster, more entertaining game, and that has happened with a lot of sports. You’re getting more plays and they’re throwing a lot more.

You look at rugby back 35 years ago and there were a lot of mauls and a lot of scrums and it was just slow and now it’s faster. It’s the same with American football.

The athletes are bigger, stronger, more intelligent, and the game has just progressed and you’re watching the biggest, fastest, strongest athletes in the world.

The Roar: Is there anyone in the NRL you look at and think ‘he could do something in the NFL’?

CS: I think there are quite a few, but even though Jarryd went straight over and in, at his age, he was a freak. I really believe you need to get into the college system for a couple of years and to be truthful it’s hard, education-wise.

You’ve really got to study and you’ve got to put the hard yards into the football as well as studying. I’d recommend to guys who want to go over, especially guys likely to play in a front-line position, to go into college, even for just two years, like at a junior college.

Israel Folau would have been a classic, because they love the vertical leap he has. The Burgess brothers could have been tough, but a classic example in the NRL is the Melbourne winger from Fiji who is scoring all the tries at the moment, Suliasi Vunivalu. He’s great overhead.

Anyone who can leap and catch and control the ball as well as he does when he brings it down – and he goes looking for the ball and he has that mongrel attitude as well. They’re the players that they want for a wide receiver, for instance, and they’ve got coaches looking at sports down here for the right sort of players.

The world has shrunk and there’s never been more interest world-wide in American football. I’m proud to be able to say I was the first one to go and have a crack, when everyone said ‘don’t go, you’re wasting your time’.

The Roar: What is your best advice for Australian kids who want to go outside the square and try to do something in American football?

CS: Chase your dreams, absolutely. This is a really healthy thing for Sydney and Australia to have these two teams out here this week, with all of the media and the hype. It increases awareness.

We’ve already got four football codes in Australia, but we seem to have this appetite right now for American sports that I’ve never seen before and it’s fun to be a part of it.

Social media has a big part to play in it and so do kids playing it on Nintendo. They know the rules better than anyone. My advice would be if you want to go over there and have a crack, do it while you’re young.

Like my dad said to me, ‘what have you got to lose, you’re going to come back a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger, hopefully a bit smarter‘.

It’s taking you out of your comfort zone and that’s a good thing. For any kid, and a lot are going over there to college, I would recommend to them to go and have a crack at it in America, enjoy the experience. I had the time of my life doing that.