From Basingstoke to Buffalo: Amateur rugby star lands in NFL
WHEN Travis Clayton was stocking shelves in his first job at Sainsbury’s, international sporting stardom would have seemed a remote prospect.
But now the 23-year-old, who played low-level amateur rugby union for his hometown club in Basingstoke, is on the path to making millions after being snapped up by the top American Football team the Buffalo Bills.
The 6ft 7in athlete was chosen as an offensive lineman in the draft selection process for the NFL, but is yet to play a game of American football.
He was selected from the NFL’S international player pathway, which aims to increase the number of players from outside the United States in the sport.
Clayton’s mother, Nicky, who travelled to Detroit to support him ahead of the draft, said that she “couldn’t be prouder” of her “special” son.
“We are over the moon to announce that Travis Clayton has just been drafted into the NFL Buffalo Bills,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “He is so special. We couldn’t be prouder and love you so much.”
After learning he had been picked by the Bills at Saturday night’s annual draft event in Detroit, Clayton said: “I don’t think it’s really going to kick in yet until I actually get to Buffalo. But at the moment, it’s a world of emotions going on right now. It’s crazy.”
A video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the official NFL UK and Ireland account on Saturday night shows his friends gathered round a television in a living room in his hometown, cheering jubilantly as it was announced he had been chosen to play for the New York state-based team.
Clayton’s selection could earn him tens of millions of dollars a year, with his journey compared with that of Jordan Mailata, an Australian player for the Philadelphia Eagles who this month signed a three-year, $66million (£52.2 million) contract extension.
Earlier this year, Clayton was working for an employment background screening company, after a job as a customer service assistant for Sainsbury’s. Clayton showed sporting promise growing up, playing football for Fulham’s academy, while also having trials at Reading,
Southampton and Chelsea, and trying his hand at rowing and boxing, before taking up rugby.
Subsequently, he joined his home club, Basingstoke, a team in the eighth tier of domestic rugby union.
He said that having played a team sport “helps tremendously” with his new American football career, adding: “More importantly, playing the wing in rugby helps with the physicality side and with agility.”
Clayton ran a 40-yard dash in 4.79 seconds in an NFL draft event for aspiring players. The Bills said that his dash was faster than all the other offensive lineman have recorded over the past 10 years. The position is traditionally taken by powerfully built athletes. Clayton weighs 301lb (21.5 stone).
Thanking his fans at home after the draft, Clayton wrote on social media: “Just want to shout out all the UK fans for sticking by me and supporting me and look, I’ve made it to the NFL and now it’s time to represent and show the rest of the world exactly why UK athletes should play in the NFL.”
His selection sees him join Louis Rees-zammit in the NFL after he signed for the reigning Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs in March. The former Gloucester, Wales and British and Irish Lions winger quit rugby in January in an attempt to secure a contract.