Former AFL player Joel Wilkinson signs with the Arizona Cardinals

THERE’S been several Aussies to make the switch to the NFL. But none have done what this former Gold Coast Sun is attempting.

Joel Wilkinson in action during the Round 23 AFL game between the Gold Coast Suns and the GWS Giants at Metricon Stadium, Carrara. Pics Adam Head

FORMER AFL player Joel Wilkinson has followed in the footsteps of Jarryd Hayne, switching sports to pursue an NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals have signed the 24-year-old, who used to play for the Gold Coast Suns, as a cornerback after inviting him to train with the squad recently.

Wilkinson, who is listed as 186cm and 81kgs, played 26 games for the Suns from 2011 to 2013 after being drafted as a Queensland zone selection.

The son of a Nigerian father and Australian mother, Wilkinson made headlines twice during his career after being racially vilified.

The first came in his debut match against the Western Bulldogs in 2011 and saw Bulldogs player Justin Sherman suspended for four matches. The following year he was targeted by a fan in a game against Collingwood.

“I was shocked when the incident took place and it was extremely upsetting at the time, but the actions of Dale Thomas and a number of Collingwood supporters in the area certainly demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of society finds this behaviour to be unacceptable,” Wilkinson said at the time.

He most recently played with the Northern Blues in the VFL but quit in July last year to begin preparing for a crack at the NFL. “In a nutshell, it’s been great having him at the club. He’s never been one ounce of trouble, he’s been a role model to a fair degree and part of our leadership group,” Blues general manager Garry O’Sullivan told the Herald Sun.

“But he gets ideas and notions in his head about other aspects of life and sport. At the start of the year he was contemplating going down the soccer pathway, so we had to talk him out of that. Now it’s NFL. Virtually he’s retired from footy so he can plan and prepare to try and crack the NFL scene.”

If he makes the Cards’ 53-man roster and plays a game, Wilkinson would be the first Australian to play at cornerback for an NFL team.

Colin Scotts forged a brief career as a defensive end in seven games with the Cardinals in 1987 (while they were based in St Louis) and Jesse Williams was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks to play defensive tackle in 2013 but is yet to make his NFL debut. The rest of the crop from Down Under have played on offence or special teams.

Joel Wilkinson in action for the Northern Blues.

Wilkinson is the latest in a line of Australians to have been signed by the Cardinals, who came within one game of reaching the Super Bowl this year after losing to Carolina in the National Football Conference championship game.

Another Australian, Ben Graham, punted for the Cardinals for four seasons while the franchise was also the first NFL team to draft an Australian player when they recruited Scotts.

Forcing his way into the Cardinals’ talented secondary will be no easy task. Arizona has some of the most talented defensive backs in the NFL, including Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Justin Bethel and recently re-signed Chris Clemons.

Australian bookmaker tab.com.au has low expectations for Wilkinson, setting the odds of him playing a game for Arizona at $21.

Wilkinson’s arrival follows the attempts by former rugby league star Hayne to forge an NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers.

Hayne had a mixed first season with the 49ers after securing a place on the team’s 53-man roster, where he was used as a running back and special teams kick returner.

He was eventually demoted to the practice squad but has vowed to try return in 2016 to win back a place in the squad.

If both players make it on to the active roster they have a strong chance of playing against each other, because as divisional rivals the 49ers and Cardinals play each other twice every season.