Ben Landry puts rugby career on hold for NFL dream

WAUKESHA, Wis. --J.J. Watt doesn't know much about rugby, but he knows plenty about Ben Landry, so he knows why Landry has excelled at the rough-and-tumble game.

"He's a brute force kind of guy," the Houston Texans star defensive end said of his former high school teammate.

Watt knows why it would be foolish to bet against Landry as he chases his NFL dream.

After all, Watt, who is now established as one of the NFL's biggest stars, overcame long odds and doubters. Before he earned three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in his first five pro seasons, before he was the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft, before he transferred to the University of Wisconsin -- where he spent his first season as a walk-on, scout-team player following a brief career in pizza delivery-- he was a lightly recruited, little-known tight end at Central Michigan. That 'Dream Big, Work Hard' credo of his was more than just a catchphrase, and Watt knows Landry is living that motto as he takes a break from being one of the United States' best rugby players to return to a game he most recently played in 2008.

"Ben is such a hard worker, and he's extremely, extremely mentally tough," said Watt, who was two years ahead of Landry at Pewaukee (Wisconsin) High School. Watt used to lift weights in the Landry family's basement while playing multiple sports with Ben and his older brother, Jake. "I've known him for a long time, followed his rugby career and am hoping for the best for him."

For Landry to make it in the NFL after not playing a single down of college football, he'll need more than hope. He has plenty more going for him: his size (6-foot-5, 270 pounds), his speed and athleticism (he runs a 4.68-second 40-yard dash), his natural feel for the game (he was an all-state tight end and defensive end -- the same positions Watt played -- as a senior for the Pirates) and his attitude ("I don't know if I've been around a more aggressive kid," said Clay Iverson, who coached both Landry and Watt at Pewaukee).

Still, all 32 NFL teams have reported to training camp, and Landry is still waiting for another opportunity. He got his first break with an invitation to the Seattle Seahawks' post-draft rookie camp in May, and he participated on a tryout basis. Landry then worked out for the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and the team he grew up cheering for, theGreen Bay Packers. Had he not pulled his hamstring while running the 40-yard dash for Packers scouts, he might be in a camp already. Now that he's healthy, the usual preseason attrition rate could open an opportunity somewhere.

"If you have the time [as an organization] and the player has the inclination and the athletic ability and the intelligence, I think it's a do-able thing," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said of players who take less traditional routes to the NFL. "Whether or not it works is a little bit more problematic. We're not opposed to it. But there is a time and a clock that's ticking, especially this time of year. We have a certain number of days before we start playing for real. You don't get to do the tryout stuff much then."

It helps that Landry's path to rugby success wasn't a direct route, even though he grew up playing the game and continued to do so on U.S. developmental program teams throughout high school.

"I'm always the new guy coming in from a school in Wisconsin that not a lot of people have heard of, so I constantly have to prove myself," Landry said. "So really, these tryouts with these NFL teams, it's nothing I haven't been doing the last six years."

Except, you know, it's a completely different game than the one he has been playing.

"If you didn't know the kid and you just heard the story, you'd say, 'Aw, that's a cute little story.' And then you'd figure, 'We'll never hear about this kid again,'" said Iverson, who remains close with Landry and his family. "I'm not going to compare anybody to J.J. -- or any of those Watt brothers, to be honest -- but the one thing that's there, with all those guys, is this attitude of, 'Screw you. Put me behind the eight ball, and I'm going to work my way out of it.' It's a long shot, but he seems to be closing the gap."

'A family game'

Justin Fitzpatrick has seen plenty of talented rugby players during his two-decade career as an elite player and coach in Europe and as the head coach of the Seattle Saracens rugby club and an assistant for the U.S. national rugby team. In Landry, he sees a future star.

"He has that potential. He's very much at that level," Fitzpatrick said. "What I think is great about Ben is he has certain physical characteristics that are not common -- [almost] 6-6 and incredibly big and powerful and athletic and quick -- but he's also very, very coachable. From the first time meeting him, you could see that this is a guy who picks things up like a sponge. He goes away and thinks about it, and he improves. Whatever he turns his mind to, I see him being successful because he's a quick learner and open to everything."

While some coaches might've been troubled to see one of their up-and-coming players turn away from the sport even temporarily, Fitzpatrick has been among Landry's most ardent supporters. Although he wasn't a good fit for the U.S. Olympic team for Rio -- they'll be playing the 7-on-7 version of the game, and the rugged Landry is better suited for the more traditional 15-on-15 game, in which his size is an asset -- Landry's potential remains.

"For him, I don't think this is mutually exclusive. He's got this opportunity to chase this part of his athletic potential, and I wish him the best of luck in it," Fitzpatrick said. "Rugby will be there whenever he finishes, whether it's this summer or in a few years' time."

Landry got started in rugby as a seventh-grader, with his father and uncle having played the game for years. He was a natural, but he was also gifted in more traditional American sports. That meant he played football in the fall, basketball in the winter and rugby in the spring, when he traveled with Wisconsin select teams and made several USA Rugby age-grade teams. After getting minimal interest from major college football programs because of his lack of size, Landry chose rugby over a walk-on opportunity at Wisconsin and a few FCS-level scholarship offers.

"I love football. But I don't know if it was that I just matured a little late or what. It was hard to get a serious look out of high school as a tight end being 208 pounds," Landry said on the ESPN Wisconsin "Stick to Football" podcast. "Rugby is kind of a family sport for me. I grew up watching my dad play, so that was really kind of where my heart was at the time, which made the decision kind of easy."

Even as his rugby career took off and sent him all over the globe, Landry's love of football never waned. He was working out at NX Level, an athletic performance center just outside Milwaukee where Watt and a handful of other NFL players train in the offseason, while home for Christmas break and between rugby seasons when Brad Arnett, the owner and Watt's longtime trainer and a few other staffers took a closer look at his numbers. Having prepared dozens of college players for the NFL scouting combine each year, the staff knew that the 25-year-old Landry could hold his own with other tight end prospects athletically. (They were right; Landry's 40-yard dash would have been among the fastest at the combine.)

"His testing numbers and his speed continued to get better and better and better," said Arnett, who continues to work with Watt and a number of other NFL players, including Detroit linebacker DeAndre Levy and Cincinnati guard Kevin Zeitler. When Landry asked Arnett if the NFL was unrealistic, the answer was immediate.

"I said, 'There's no doubt in my mind you should do it,'" Arnett said. "As long as I've been doing this, I've had a lot of guys come in, and I've had to sit them down and tell them, 'Don't bark up this tree.' Sometimes, it's about getting a kid to understand the level of athlete it takes to make it [in the NFL], and that they're not at that level. But he's got more than a legitimate shot to make it."

Landry signed with Wisconsin-based agent Ron Slavin of BTI Sports, which represents more than 30 current NFL players, and Slavin went to work. The first step: sending the open-minded Seahawks, a team whose coach, Pete Carroll, has embraced rugby-style tackling, a video of Landry's rugby highlights. GM John Schneider's scouting staff took one look and brought Landry in for a workout, which led to the rookie camp invitation. Although Seattle didn't immediately sign him, it piqued other teams' interest.

Landry's workouts with the Bears, Lions and Packers happened in short order, which likely contributed to his hamstring injury during his June 15 workout in Green Bay. He confessed to geeking out while in the Packers' locker room -- "Being in Lambeau Field, seeing the names on all the lockers, having [running back] Eddie Lacy walk past you, man, that gets the jitters going," Landry said -- but beyond that, the challenge hasn't overwhelmed him.

"I would say that the No. 1 thing that Ben possesses is that wherever he goes, the stage isn't too big for him," Iverson said. "If he makes it or not, I don't know, but he's not going to be scared."

A long shot

Throughout his scouting career, including his time with the Packers, Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey has developed a reputation for not being afraid to take fliers on off-the-beaten-path players. Not only did the Chiefs have tight end Demetrius Harris, a former UW-Milwaukee basketball player, on their 53-man roster last year, but they also carried former Penn State basketball player Ross Travis, who like Harris did not play football in college, on their practice squad. The Chiefs signed Harris to a three-year, $6.3 million contract extension earlier this year, while Travis could win the No. 3 tight end job.

"The odds are extremely long against these guys," Dorsey said. "You get lucky every once in a while, but I wouldn't make a living doing it. The kid's got to display a semblance of football ability and knowledge, but [as a team] you have to be patient and be willing to give him a redshirt year and let him develop. You -- the player and the team -- have to be willing to put the time in. Nine out of 10 times, you usually don't hit on 'em."

If Landry makes it, he won't be the first rugby player to reach the NFL. Australian-born Hayden Smith, who had never played organized football, spent five games on the New York Jets' roster in 2012 before returning to rugby. Last season, Jarryd Hayne gave up a lucrative rugby career in Australia to try out for the NFL. Hayne made the San Francisco 49ers' roster coming out of training camp after a sensational preseason but retired from the NFL in May after one up-and-down season so he could play on Fiji's Olympic sevens team. Hayne ended up being cut from the Fiji roster but might have been headed to Rio had he not detoured to the NFL, which underscores the risk Landry is taking.

"I give him so much credit. He's an elite rugby player and to put that aside to follow a dream," said Iverson, the high-school coach. "If you're really good at something, it's hard to put that aside to chase something else."

Perhaps Landry's best-case scenario would be to find a way to do both, like New England Patriots safety and special teams ace Nate Ebner, who is on the U.S. Olympic roster and on leave from the NFL. Rugby is returning to the Games after a 92-year absence, and Ebner, who has played in 66 career NFL games (including playoffs) in four seasons with the Patriots, is one of 12 men on the U.S. Sevens team.

Fitzpatrick, for one, believes Landry could do it.

"I would consider him a mainstay of the U.S. national team for a long time, should he commit to that. But we've all got different paths in life, and this NFL dream of his is something Ben's passionate about. I think he's got to run with it," said Fitzpatrick, who gets regular updates from Landry. (Landry is also on leave from a pro team in Denver.)

"He doesn't seem to be a million miles away from it. Like most things in life, you need a little luck and a little hard work. And I think whoever does take a chance on him will not be disappointed."

In the meantime, Landry continues to train while working for his father's company, Area Rental, setting up tents at festivals and weddings and upgrading the company website. He gets the occasional encouraging note from Watt -- "He's following me, and obviously, the world's following him," Landry said with a laugh -- and when he isn't setting up at a church festival or working on search-engine optimization, he dreams about being across the line of scrimmage from Watt and giving him a good, hard shoulder as he goes out for a pass.

"I don't like getting ahead of myself," Landry said. "But I will say this: Every long drive, I put on some tunes and envision myself catching a ball over the middle. That's been my dream since I was a little boy.

"So you take it day by day and then really worry about what you can worry about, and what I can worry about right now is training and getting ready for the next tryout or opportunity that comes along. But absolutely, I daydream. I dream about it all the time."