Sweden’s William James Signs with Dresden in Germany

William James from Sweden who has spent the last four years playing for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, has agreed to play for the Dresden Monarchs in Germany’s top division, the GFL.

Dresden head coach John Leijten:

“He is a European player who started and was very productive in Division I football in the United States. He will be a great addition to the team.”

James (5’11”, 195 lb), whose father is from Great Britain and mother is Swedish, played for the Arlanda Jets in Sweden before deciding he wanted to give college football a try in the United States. After asking his head coach BD Kennedy, who was the Jets coach at the time, he began sending out letters.

North Dakota decided to allow him to walk on and after two years he had earned a scholarship. James, who finished his career with the Fighting Hawks with a total of 103 tackles, started at safety off and on the final two years of his career finally finding a more permanent spot on the team in his senior season.

“I earned a degree in kinesiology so I am pretty happy. Coach Leijten gave me a chance to continue playing football in the best league in Europe so I took it. I really appreciate the support I have had from my family, and also from BD Kennedy, Ville Korhonen and Moe Kadhkodai.”

The Dresden Monarchs are among the elite teams in Germany and have advanced to the German semifinals for the past two years. James will be one of the few Swedish players to play in Germany’s top league.

Roger Kelly is an editor and a writer for AFI. A former PR Director the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for 7 years, he now lives in Sweden writing about and scouting American Football throughout the world.