Bills’ 28-year-old rookie passes on rugby to give NFL a try

HAVING spent much of his life playing rugby in England, Christian Wade is so new to American football the 28-yearold Buffalo Bills running back wasn’t sure what to do when he reached the end zone.

Or where he was supposed to go after he scored. “I was kind of looking around and didn’t know,” Wade said, recalling the confusion that set in after he was mobbed by teammates in the end zone following a 65-yard run in the Buffalo’s 24-16 preseasonopening win over Indianapolis on Thursday night.

“Everyone was celebrating. And I was trying to celebrate but thinking about, ‘What am I supposed to do next?"’ he said.

“And everybody’s like, ‘Come off the field!’ I ran over and it was like, ‘Aaaah!’ But yeah, it was like the best feeling in the world.”

Coach Sean McDermott could only break into a laugh at once again being reminded how Wade is not your typical NFL rookie.

“Yeah, I don’t think we covered that maybe in the install: What happens if you score, right?” McDermott said, shaking his head in wonder.

“He’s used to going right back to the huddle and going to the next play.”

It’s one step at a time for Wade, whose crash course in football had him scoring on the first and only time he touched the ball in a competitive setting.

Taking the handoff and reading how the linemen were blocking to the left, Wade burst through a huge hole, avoided a tackle and surged up the right sideline untouched.

Wade is no stranger to scoring. He left behind a professional rugby career playing for Wasps of England’s top league, where his 82 career tries rank third on the list.