Football, as we know it, has always been a pretty much American-dominated sport. The World League, later named NFL Europe, was a failure, and despite the NFL's efforts to play regular-season games in London's Wembley Stadium (a terrible idea), American football has never really caught on in the rest of the world.
But that tide might be changing now.
USA Football has put together its roster for the inaugural International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championships from June 27-July 5 in Canton, Ohio, the home of the NFL Hall of Fame.
Two DFW players are part of the 45-man roster, and Dallas Carter head coach Allen Wilson is the linebackers coach for head coach Chuck Kyle of Cleveland St. Ignatius. There are still nine more spots up for grabs, and it would seem there would need to be more than three players from Texas on the national team considering the state's prep pedigree.
Bryce Petty, a senior from Midlothian, will be a quarterback for the USA. The Baylor signee didn't put up eye-popping numbers at Midlothian last season with twice as many interceptions (8) as touchdowns (4) but had better numbers as a junior with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions while throwing for more than 2,000 yards.
Chris Henderson, a Carter defensive tackle, is a bit more of a big-time recruit than Petty. The senior compiled 70 tackles with nine sacks and 20 tackles behind the line of scrimmage as a senior. He signed with Texas A&M, passing up offers from Oklahoma, Miami, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and SMU.
They are joined by the only other Texas player, wide receiver Tevin Reese of Temple, another Baylor signee.
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Along with coach Wilson, they will face teams from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Sweden.
Those links to each country's page are interesting because they show people from those countries who made it as successful football players in numerous leagues, including the NFL. Some, of course, have more than others.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He doesn't feel bad for Yankee fans who spend thousands of dollars to see them get smashed at their home opener.
