We’ve previously noted that the Broncos and Bills have expressed some interest in Australian rugby star Greg Inglis. Now we can add the Jets to the list.
The Melbourne Sun-Herald is reporting that the Jets contacted an Australian agency called OzPunt to see about bringing in Inglis, with the thought that he has the athletic ability to play in the NFL, maybe at linebacker or maybe returning kicks.
''The Jets contacted us about Greg -- it wasn’t the other way around,” OzPunt representative Paul Shepherd said. “If he’s serious, we can organize trials but we wouldn’t be doing another thing until we heard from Greg or his manager.”
The Sun-Herald reports that Inglis is under contract to his Australian team through the end of 2012 “but could be forced out of the embattled club after it was busted rorting the salary cap.” I don’t know what “rorting” means, but I assume it’s not good.
Also not good: The New York Daily News reports that Inglis has had off-field trouble including an arrest for assaulting his girlfriend.
But if he’s a talented enough athlete, he’ll get a look from the NFL. Several NFL teams (including the Jets) have signed Australian football players to be punters, but bringing in an Australian rugby player and making him a position player would be another step forward in the internationalization of the NFL.