As an avid fan of the NFL, I am having difficulty following the Jarryd Hayne efforts to sign with an NFL club. Reports today have the former Eels NRL star returning to Australia due to visa problems. Those ‘problems’ meant he could not sign a contract with an undisclosed NFL team.

First thing I would say to that is ‘what a mistake to make’! Next thing I would say is just how would the NFL team sign Hayne? The NFL has eligibility rules and I can’t find any one that would have allowed him to sign now.

I read with interest on the Sportsbet site that the ‘rumour’ is that he has signed a ‘futures contract’ with Detroit Lions. On the basis of that, Sportsbet has wound in the odds on Hayne participating in the NFL. However, signing that contract wouldn’t let Hayne play this season as such a contract doesn’t take effect until March 2015 and, by the way, that type of contract cannot be signed until AFTER the end of the NFL season. So then what has Hayne signed, if anything?

I discussed the subject of Hayne playing in the NFL with a senior Seattle Seahawks official in November this year and his response was decidedly underwhelming. Almost a Jarryd who?

I wish Hayne all the best in his endeavours to crack the NFL, but, there appears to be a lot of spin and not much substance to this story at the moment.

I figure he is closer to playing in the NRL in 2015 than the NFL!