Today is August 25th and that means that I am exactly one month away from submitting my PhD thesis. It’s a crazy feeling to be so close to finishing. It’s an even crazier feeling to consider all the work that I still want to do before I submit the thing! A friend recently told me that you never really finish a PhD thesis, you just get to a point where you feel better about abandoning it. That definitely rings true for me.
Anyways, because I’m up to my eyeballs in editing and last minute researching I decided to do a bit of lay journalism about a fun development with my favorite football team. Because, let’s be honest, as I’m working on my thesis, I’m simultaneously fighting back the desire to read everything about the progress of the 49ers, and to watch every highlight and interview. Although it is easier to ignore most stories knowing that this year is most likely going to be a rough one (for my melancholic reflection on the 49ers abysmal offseason see here).
So the story that I’ve been really intrigued about, and perhaps the story that is really the only bright glimmer of hope this offseason, is the story of Jarryd Hayne. Have you heard about him? The Hayne Plane is a Rugby star in Australia attempting to make the transition to the NFL. And he just happens to be on my favorite team. The tricky thing, of course, is that he is still trying to make the team. While I’m convinced that he’ll be playing in the NFL this year, I’m not as convinced that when he plays he’ll be wearing a 49ers uniform. Though I’m definitely rooting for his success.
If you’re not familiar with Hayne, check out this epic highlight reel from his career playing Rugby below.
As you can see, he’s clearly a beast. And while I’ve only been a fan of Rugby for the entire length of time that I’ve been a PhD student in Scotland, I can definitely say that he is the best rugby player I’ve seen (though that’s not too difficult when you’re a Scotland supporter). When I first saw the video above and heard that he wanted to enter the NFL, I wondered if his skill set would transfer over. Most Rugby fans that I’ve met in the UK and Australia have this assumption that American Football is somehow more wimpy because the players wear “excessive” padding. Compare this to Rugby where the padding is minimal. However, this assumption is entirely mistaken. The game completely changes because the padding provides a sort of sanction for players to engage with more of a reckless abandon. It’s actually way more dangerous as a result. And besides the issue of brutality, the game has way more strategy as a result of its stop-start rhythm, which makes it much more like chess than any other team sport. Interestingly, when asked what’s the biggest difference between Rugby and American football after the preseason game against the Cowboys, Hayne said, “the whole game in general.”
Well, with the past two preseason games, we’ve had a small glimpse of Hayne’s versatility and play-making ability. Check out these runs from scrimmage below. The first was a 53 yard run against the Texans, and the second was a 34 yard run against the Cowboys.
Now check out these two punt returns against the Cowboys.
These four highlights are definitely impressive; in many ways he’s been the most exciting player of the short preseason thus far. But what needs to be kept in mind, of course, is that Hayne is making these plays against some 1st string players, to be sure, but mostly against 2nd and 3rd string players. The real test will be in the regular season when 1st string players are going full speed. I certainly hope that Hayne is able to have a successful year in the NFL (especially if that means success for the 49ers!) but I’m still not entirely sure that it will be quite as successful as he’s used to down under.
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