Dwayne Armstrong

Last updated

Dwayne Armstrong (born March 18, 1971) is an American former sportsman who played American football and Australian rules football.

Contents

College football career

Armstrong played college football for Iowa State in 1991 and 1992, lettering in both years. [1] He was a member of the Los Angeles Raiders practice squad, but did not get activated to the main squad. [2]

Australian rules football

The African-American athlete is best known for converting to Australian rules football. Armstrong met Melanie Oakley, the daughter of Ross Oakley, the chief executive officer of the Australian Football League (AFL). He convinced Essendon Football Club coach Kevin Sheedy to recruit Armstrong, the first American raised athlete to switch to professional Australian rules football. [3] [4]

He showed some promise and was put on Essendon's supplementary list. Although he did not debut at senior AFL level, he played several reserve grade and pre-season games. [5] [6] He also spent a season developing his skills with Russell Jeffrey at the Wanderers Football Club in Darwin, Northern Territory. [7]

Following his AFL attempt, Armstrong took a job with Ross Oakley's company that had acquired the license to sell NFL products in Australia. He became the NFL development manager for Australasia and was involved in arranging the NFL to be televised in Australia, the 1999 American Bowl game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos in Sydney and the Superpunt punting talent search that led to Mat McBriar winning a scholarship to the University of Hawaii. [8]

Related Research Articles

A draft is a process used in some countries and sports to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selects a player, the team receives exclusive rights to sign that player to a contract, and no other team in the league may sign the player. The process is similar to round-robin item allocation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Fletcher</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1975

Dustin Fletcher is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire 23-season career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is widely acknowledged as one of the finest defenders in the history of the league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Foote</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1924

Leslie Roy Foote was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.

Cameron Cloke is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club, Carlton Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the son of former Richmond and Collingwood player, David Cloke and the brother of Jason and Travis Cloke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Moorcroft</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1976

Gary Moorcroft is a former Australian rules football player for Essendon and Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL).

The AFL Commission is the governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick.

Andrew Lovett is an Aboriginal Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for Essendon between 2005 and 2009. He was traded to St Kilda at the end of the 2009 season, but his contract was terminated in February 2010 before he ever played a game for the club.

Chris Bryan is a former sportsman who played both Australian rules football and American football professionally. Bryan played in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2005 until 2009, and then in the National Football League (NFL) as a punter in 2010 and 2011.

Anthony Rock is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne and Hawthorn in the VFL/AFL.

Simon Eastaugh is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also played for Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and both South Fremantle and East Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He mainly played as a ruckman and has coached the Perth Football Club in the WAFL. Eastaugh has also been an assistant coach at the West Coast Eagles and is now with the Fremantle Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish experiment (Australian rules football)</span> Importation of Gaelic footballers

The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish sportspeople, particularly Gaelic footballers, to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally. The AFL's focus on Gaelic footballers is due to the similarities between the sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zac Clarke</span> Australian rules footballer

Zachary Clarke is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Robert Stevenson is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Simon Tunbridge is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the club in the 2012 rookie draft, with pick 51. Tunbridge made his debut in round 14, 2013, against Essendon at Subiaco Oval. He was delisted in October 2015, however, he was re-drafted in the 2016 rookie draft. He was again delisted at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Sam Michael is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Albert Clarence "Bert" Armstrong was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Joseph Cornelius Oakley was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew McGrath</span> Australian rules footballer

Andrew McGrath is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the first overall selection in the 2016 national draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Paton (Australian footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer

Ben Paton is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL).

References

  1. ↑ "ALL-TIME FOOTBALL LETTERMEN" (PDF). Iowa State University Official Athletics Site. Iowa State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  2. ↑ Griffin, Gil (2016). Jumping at the Chance: From NBA Hopefuls to AFL Prospects : the Players of the American Experiment. Nero. p. 26. ISBN   978-1-925435-11-5 . Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  3. ↑ Linnell, Stephen (August 12, 1996). "League plan for foreign list". The Age. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  4. ↑ International Sportsmen recruited to the AFL
  5. ↑ Bombers try their Irish luck [ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Connolly, Rohan (February 18, 1996). "Saints' stars shine". The Sunday Age.
  7. ↑ Griffin, Gil (2016). Jumping at the Chance: From NBA Hopefuls to AFL Prospects : the Players of the American Experiment. Nero. p. 42. ISBN   978-1-925435-11-5 . Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ Griffin, Gil (2016). Jumping at the Chance: From NBA Hopefuls to AFL Prospects : the Players of the American Experiment. Nero. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-925435-11-5 . Retrieved December 5, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.