Clayton performed a number of sports activities rising up and, in 2019, he attended a trial for the NFL Academy – which was launched that 12 months within the UK.
The programme provides youngsters from Europe and Africa full-time teaching and an schooling, with a view to them incomes faculty scholarships within the US.
Clayton solely spent a short interval with the academy, not realising the chance it supplied him, so when his second probability got here alongside he was decided to take full benefit.
He attended a trial for the NFL’s Worldwide Participant Pathway, launched in 2017, and together with Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, was among the many 16 athletes chosen for the 2024 programme.
In January they flew to the US for a 10-week coaching camp, and Clayton was earmarked as an offensive lineman, a participant whose important job is to dam opponents and defend their very own quarterback, relatively than operating with the ball.
“I keep in mind the primary session in Florida,” he stated. “It was all about getting your physique in awkward positions that I have never been in earlier than.
“In rugby, plenty of the time you are in your toes. As an offensive lineman, you are extra flat-footed, so it was about adjusting to the totally different angles of your hips and your legs.”
Clayton was adjusting properly, as he demonstrated in March at his Professional Day, when faculty gamers are assessed by NFL scouts earlier than the draft in April.
Clayton’s taking part in place was decided by his measurement. He’s 6ft 7in and weighs 301lbs (137 kg). But it was his pace that made groups sit up and take discover.
He ran the 40-yard sprint in 4.79secs. It was the quickest time recorded by an offensive lineman in 10 years.
“That is fairly uncommon, for a 300lb man,” he stated. “That is once I thought some groups could be .”