Jarryd Hayne admitted something odd for a man who’s grown up playing rugby league

JARRYD Hayne has shocked plenty since travelling to the US, and this latest admission will surprise us again.

Jarryd Hayne’s surprising admission

JARRYD Hayne just keeps on surprising.

The former Parramatta Eel shocked all of Australia when he announced he’d be heading to the US to try his hand at playing with the pigskin instead of the Steeden. Now, his latest admission will come as a surprise too.

See, Hayne has watched more NFL Super Bowls than he has NRL grand finals.

He’s watched 10 of them, in fact. That’s what he told Paul Wissam in an exclusive interview with ESPN.

It’s not exactly something you’d expect from a man who grew up in Minto in Sydney’s south-west — rugby league heartland — and who went to high school at one of the state’s most well-known league nurseries (Westfields Sports High).

You’d think someone who’s played for as long as he has, at the level he’s played at, would have watched more than 10 NRL grand finals in his 28-year lifespan. But alas, that’s clearly not the case.

In the interview with ESPN, Hayne revealed he first became aware of the NFL as a teenager.

“I’d been hearing about it since I was about 16 or 17,” he said.

“My physio was a huge fan, and always said I’d be a good running back. I wouldn’t say it was because of him, but it definitely had a bit of an impact.”

That doesn’t mean he fell in love with the sport right away. No, that came later.

That’s a lot different to the blue and gold of Parramatta.

“When I first watched a game and actually met a few of the players ... I was mesmerised,” he said.

That first game was back in 2007 with former NSW halfback Brett Finch in Sydney. The initial spark then flared up even more when he went to America with then-teammates Tim Mannah and Joseph Paulo in 2012.

The trio saw the Dallas Cowboys play at Texas Stadium, and Hayne’s dream to one day play in the NFL was born.

There will be plenty of young Australians wanting to follow his path in the future, and he thinks it’s only natural given the nature of American football makes it so appealing to sports fans in this country.

“It’s an up-tempo sport, even with the stop-start ... it’s physical, it’s brutal. It’s really tough,” Hayne said.

“The way the NFL market is, it is like no other. It’s incredible. You can understand why it appeals to Australians.”

When Hayne made the San Francisco 49ers final 53-man roster after a stunning pre-season where he starred primarily as a punt returner, it seemed he’d transformed almost all of Australia into NFL fans overnight.

The Hayne Plane in full flight.

His debut game against the Minnesota Vikings was — at the time — reportedly the most watched ESPN broadcast ever in Australia.

From that moment he learnt just how hard playing football at the top level in the States really is. He had less opportunities than he did in the pre-season, and in November was cut from the 49ers’ squad.

That saw him placed on waivers, but no other franchise wanted to pick him up, so he stayed on in San Francisco as part of the team’s practice squad.

He was recalled to the active roster later in the season to round off a turbulent campaign with an underperforming outfit. But he wouldn’t have it any other way, and the only thing he cares about now is getting better

“It’s all part of the experience,” he told ESPN. “I had a ball over there. I had a load of fun, met a lot of great blokes.

“Running. Catching. Blocking. Reads. You always want to improve. There’s no one thing. Every aspect of the game I want to work on. As we hit the training paddock, intensity will pick up, and get me in good shape to work in Chip (Kelly’s) offence.

“Any good athlete will tell you, there’s never a time that you can’t want to train, that you can’t look forward to it. As long as you’re looking forward to training, and always wanting to push yourself. It will be OK.”

Originally published as Jarryd Hayne admitted something odd for a man who’s grown up playing rugby league