Lucas Borrow: Former Newcastle AFL player earns US college football scholarship
Another Aussie footballer turned American footballer Lucas Borrow is all set for the college season to start in September after earning a scholarship with Ball State University.
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The sky’s the limit for Novocastrian Lucas Borrow who has earned himself a scholarship which could lead him all the way to America’s coveted National Football League (NFL).
The 20-year-old has spent most of his life playing aussie rules. He’s played for the Cardiff Hawks, was captain of the Newcastle representative team and spent six years with the Sydney Swans academy.
But when injury came knocking, his mind wandered about what else was out there.
“I broke my arm at the end of 2016, snapped both bones and nerve damage and I stopped AFL for a little while,” he said.
“I was going through social media and I saw one of my friends, Mitchell Crawford, he was punting over there.
“I saw him posting videos of him in his pads.
“I messaged him and he said there was this group in Melbourne called Pro Kick Australia, turning footy players into kickers in American football.”
Curious, he looked into it, and went for an assessment in Sydney.
A month later and he was making the move to Melbourne, with hope of getting an American football scholarship within the next 12 months
But it took him less than six months to impress. He received interest from numerous colleges before an offer came from Ball State University in Indiana.
He’ll hopefully - COVID-19 permitting - head to America in July for the season to begin in September.
“It’s still surreal and I’ll play in front of 100,000 in round 2,” Borrow said.
“It’s a completely scene over there.”
While spending four years playing US footy, he’ll also get to study business administration.
It’s been an absolute whirlwind last 12 months for Borrow, admitting he’s come from not even really knowing what NFL was all about.
“Before I moved to Melbourne I knew nothing, it was completely different to me,” he laughed.
“I’m probably one of the smallest but coming from a footy background if I get hit it’ll be ok and plus I wear padding.
“Mum and dad have no clue about the sport, they are still trying to learn it.”
He’ll be positioned as one of the “punters” or “kickers” which come on in the fourth down to change field position to kick the ball as long and high as possible for an advantage.
“All the kids in America grow up wanting to be a quarterback or a wide receiver whereas when I was five I’ve been kicking a ball out the back.”
Look out USA!