Cardinals sign former Gold Coast Sun Joel Wilkinson to NFL

Another Australian is headed to the NFL and could end up playing against Jarryd Hayne.

The Arizona Cardinals have signed former Gold Coast Suns player Joel Wilkinson, right, pictured being welcomed by Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. Picture: Arizona Cardinals

Former AFL player Joel Wilkinson has been signed by the Arizona Cardinals, with the team eyeing the athletic 186cm 24-year-old to play as a defensive cornerback.

If Wilkinson, who played for the Gold Coast Suns, makes the Cardinals’ 53-man roster he could go head-to-head with Australian running back Jarryd Hayne.

Hayne’s San Francisco 49ers and the Cardinals are major rivals in the NFC West conference, playing each other twice a year in the regular season.

Wilkinson, who has a Nigerian father and an Australian mother, had his time in the AFL marred by incidents of racial abuse from fans and players.

He most recently played with the Northern Blues in the VFL but quit last July 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 said.

“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 as a cornerback for an NFL team.

The Cardinals have a long history of recruiting Australians, including former Geelong Cats defender turned punter Ben Graham, who became the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl, when they lost to Pittsburgh in 2008.

AAP