170kg Aussie ‘sledgehammer’ stuns America with viral touchdown

Melbourne-born offensive lineman Daniel Faalele is already on the NFL radar; and this won’t do his chances of getting drafted any harm.

Daniel Faalele is one big boy. Photo: Getty Images/Twitter.

Melbourne-born offensive lineman Daniel Faalele is already on the NFL radar — and this won’t do his chances of getting drafted any harm.

The Minnesota star scored his first career touchdown in his final American college game on Wednesday, sending college football fans — who love nothing more than a big man TD — alight.

Typically Faalele does the blocking — and at 203cm and 172kg, he does it very well.

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But in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, one of many college football bowl games (which are essentially exhibitions, with three playoff games excepted), he was sent in at fullback with the Golden Gophers just two yards away from glory.

And Faalele did his job, barrelling into the big men up front and through the West Virginia defenders, just making his way across the goalline for the score.

“West Virginia’s thinking, really? I gotta tackle this guy?” one of the ESPN commentators said.

Footage of the score quickly went viral on social media as reports emerged suggesting Faalele had become the biggest man in college football history to register a touchdown.

Very, very, very big man TD: Minnesota with the 6-foot-9, 380-pound sledgehammer/offensive tackle Daniel Faalele rumbling in for a Gophers TD

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 29, 2021

Faalele is one of the biggest men in college football and is viewed as a potential first-round NFL draft pick next year.

In his November 30 mock draft, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler predicted Faalele would go 31st to Baltimore.

“Faalele is a verified 6-foot-8 and 379 pounds with 35-inch (64cm) arms and 11-inch (28cm) hands,” Brugler wrote.

“He is relatively new to football and is still learning how to get the most out of his unique skills, but he moves surprisingly well for his size and his anvil hands thump defenders into tomorrow.”

Melbourne-born offensive lineman Daniel Faalele gets the ball for a touchdown in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.

Faalele grew up in Melbourne and played basketball and rugby until being discovered at a training camp in 2016. He then moved to the US and after one year at the IMG Academy, accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Minnesota.

He was named a first-team lineman on the All-Big Ten conference team this year.

Originally published as 170kg Aussie ‘sledgehammer’ stuns America with viral touchdown