Ex-England sevens international Alex Gray has signed a reserve future contract with NFL side Atlanta Falcons.
The 26-year-old, who was the Rugby Players Association’s Sevens Player of the Year in 2015, made the decision to switch sports last year and had been part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway programme.
Gray will now take his place in Atlanta’s 90-man roster when the new league year formally begins in March and the ex-Newcastle Falcons and London Irish player expressed his delight at the news.
!!Contract Signed!! Not many will know what it took to get to this point. Thank you to everyone who believed in me from day 1. This is just the start, but I can’t wait to give it everything I’ve got 👊 pic.twitter.com/YW3oLPCWlP
— Alex Gray (@AlexShaggyGray) January 17, 2018
He tweeted: “Contract signed!! Not many will know what it took to get to this point. Thank you to everyone who believed in me from day one. This is just the start, but I can’t wait to give it everything I’ve got.”
Gray, who plays as a tight end, featured for Atlanta in pre-season but was ineligible to be activated during the 2017/18 campaign.