Jarryd Hayne’s journey from ‘king’ to ‘peasant’

NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne has described his rollercoaster NFL adventure as leaving his “kingdom” to join the “peasants”.

SANTA CLARA, CA - OCTOBER 18: Jarryd Hayne #38 of the San Francisco 49ers walks off the field after the 49ers beat the Baltimore Ravens at Levi's Stadium on October 18, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

JARRYD Hayne’s journey from NRL superstar to NFL rookie was the biggest story of the 2015 sporting year.

His shock departure to the USA to embark on his long-time goal of playing in the country’s biggest football competition was a move that shocked rugby league fans around Australia. That shock however, turned to adoration and a snowballing obsession as more and more people jumped on board the Hayne Plane.

For the man himself, the shock move resonated a little differently.

Having been at the very pinnacle of his sport for so long, Hayne was used to being at the top. However, his new adventure would see him drop to the bottom of the pecking order in a sport entirely foreign to what he had grown up knowing.

In his feature Channel Nine documentary ‘Jarryd Hayne: Aussie Hero American Dream’, the former Parramatta Eels star described the transition as leaving his “kingdom” and being left with nothing, as a “peasant”.

“For me to give up what I gave up — the status, the leadership, the respect — it’s not of this world,” Hayne said.

“The world these days isn’t about taking yourself out of the kingdom and putting yourself with the peasants.”

“Coming from housing commission, working from the bottom to the top, I understand what it’s like to have nothing. Living off powdered milk, struggling to make ends meet. I know what that’s like. I also know what it’s like to go to fancy restaurants and wear nice clothes.”

Hayne described his first few days in Hollywood as a journey into the unknown. The emphasis of just how little preparation and guidance he had at the start of his journey was consistent throughout the programme.

Hayne struggled with football knowledge early in his journey.

“I’m sitting in a cafe in Hollywood. We didn’t know where we were going to stay. On a journey where I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going. I’ve got a thousand emotions running through my head. Thousands of miles away from my family, my friends, from the people that I know can help me in this situation when I had nothing,” the 28-year-old said.

“I had nothing, no idea. Didn’t have an agent, didn’t have a pro scout, didn’t know how to run routes. I didn’t know what routes were.”

The documentary showed a side of Hayne’s progression that fans and the media hadn’t seen before: the harsh, raw learning curve he had to battle to first grasp the game of American football.

Having made the initial trip with close friend Ray Roumanous, the pair worked to get the ex-Origin full-back physically and mentally prepared to trial, with a four-week training block to start the trip, taking each day without any plan as to how his NFL dream was going to become a realistic possibility.

“When we got there I said, ‘Let’s just go down to target and buy a footy’,” Hayne said, training at the closest park to his hotel.

“I was so out of NFL shape. Every day I was working my ass off dripping sweat. And it was hot as hell in LA.”

He did what he set out to do.

Testament to just how difficult the transition from one professional sporting code to another is, Hayne shows a vulnerability in the feature that highlights an element of doubt he cast on his own ability early in his at the San Francisco 49ers. But in true Jarryd Hayne fashion, it was his faith that saw him through the other side.

“It’s like your first day of school when you are a little kid, and you are walking into something you don’t expect,” Hayne said.

“Four weeks in and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’m going to last. They could probably just cut me anyway. I’ve been studying my ass off. I’ve been up late at night, trying to do everything possible to understand the game and understand the concept and I just couldn't do it.

“Everyone has faith, its just what you put it into.

“I’m a kid from the south-west of Sydney that believes he can achieve anything, and he can.”

Originally published as Jarryd Hayne’s journey from ‘king’ to ‘peasant’