Rugby star Zaruba to tackle an NFL dream
When the NFL calls, it’s hard not to say no.
Adam Zaruba, Canadian rugby sevens star, is off to try out with the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The 26-year-old North Vancouver giant admits it’s all about unfinished business.
He played football in high school at Carson Graham and then was recruited to play at SFU but to put it in his words, “it didn’t work out.” He redshirted for a year for the Clan, didn’t play for his second, was ineligible for his third.
Eventually he found his way to rugby, was quickly spotted by the rugby sevens staff at Rugby Canada as a prospect and by 2014 was a full-time member of the national squad.
Fast-forward three years, and he’s made a name for himself on the international rugby stage. Now it’s time for a new big stage.
“It will be a really awesome thing for me as an athlete,” he said before flying out to Philadelphia on Friday.
“The window here is very small.” After his World Rugby Sevens Series season came to an end in May, Zaruba got a call from a South African rugby agent who was developing contacts in the NFL.
“Would you like to try the NFL?” he was asked. It didn’t take long for Zaruba to say “yes.”
He was just getting into rest and recuperation mode, but he quickly had to shift gears to not only get into something approaching football shape, but also put together a video of him in action.
He called up UBC Athletics’ strength and conditioning coach Joe McCullum. McCullum brought UBC football coach Blake Nill and quarterback Mike O’Connor in to help. PR man Len Catling stepped in to put together a highlight tape.
“He worked out with us and it was very, very good for a kid who hasn’t been in that position or that experience for a while,” Nill said of the 6-foot-5, 265-pound might-be tight end.
“What it would come down to for him, you’ve got to look at three elements: he has the physical skills, but does he have the technical skills?
“Maybe to a lesser degree does he have the mindset — which he should have. He’s played international rugby at a very high level, it’s a level of competing he’s proven he can maintain.”
In the past, a football coach might have turned up their nose at a non-specialist athlete, but coaches in all sports are looking more and more simply for the right mix athleticism and character above all else, Nill pointed out. The skills can be taught, but the physical and mental mostly can’t.
“That’s my philosophy, I recruit genetics,” Nill said. “If you’ve got the genetics and the mindset to compete, I’ll take you any time over a guy who’s a complete freak as a technical player, who has a lack of motivation.
“If he was eligible to play university football, I’d be all over him.”
Zaruba’s also spent plenty of time in the gym and this past week brought in former SFU strength and conditioning coach Derek Hansen to work on his speed, especially his 40-metre sprint.
“I’ve been blown away about how many people have put their hand up,” he said. “Nobody asked for anything, they were just excited to help out.”
The Eagles put in their offer a couple weeks ago. He’s not closing the door on his rugby career, but the NFL chance was too big.
“After this past season with the sevens, it’s going to take a very special opportunity for me to leave, it’s such a special group,” he said. “It’s a bittersweet moment, the boys are super sad to see me go, but they’re super stoked for me, too.”
Canada’s sevens coach, Damian McGrath, said he was “delighted” for his giant winger.
“He has such enormous potential both physically and technically I’m not surprised he’s being seriously scouted,” he said. “I knew when I first saw him at close quarters he was an X-factor player.
“It’s a blow for the program, but we are all supportive of the big man and want him to succeed.”
Though he admits the chance to make a good living in football is very appealing — there’s no comparison to the small peanuts he makes in rugby — Zaruba’s just excited about the challenge on its own.
“It’s a positive thing no matter which way you slice it,” he said. “At the foundational level you have to love sports, the process of sports.
“No one would say money wouldn’t be motivating, but this is an achievement (as an athlete) ... that I feel I’m capable of doing.”