NFL: Seattle Seahawks sign 6’7 Italian offensive lineman Max Pircher as part of NFL’s International Player Pathway program

| American Football | 04/18/2024

The Seattle Seahawks have signed Italian OL Max Pircher as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program for the 2024  season.

The 6’7″, 300 pound Pircher from Bressanone, Italy in the Italian alps, has spent the last two seasons with the LA Rams after being allocated to Los Angeles via the NFL IPP program in 2021. In fact, prior to 2019, he hadn’t played football before having had a European handball background. Most recently spent the 2023 season with the Detriot Lions.

Pircher literally started playing football in Austria for the Swarco Raiders and in his first year he helped the Raiders win the Austrian Football League championship. . In 2019 he also played on the Italian National Team (Blue Team) and was playing for the Hildesheim Invaders in Germany when he was invited to join the International Player Pathway program.

Established in 2017, the NFL International Player Pathway program aims to provide elite athletes from around the world with the opportunity to earn a spot on an NFL roster and increase the number of international players in the League.

Every year, NFL IPP scouts scour the globe for international talent inviting a handful of prospects to the US for an intensive training camp before the NFL draft. With the help of former NFL position and performance coaches, these foreign dream chasers are given all the tools to learn how to be a pro. At the end of the training, period prospects are given a chance to show off their skills at a pro day in front of all 32 NFL team scouts.

Alex is a former NCAA and semi-pro American football player who is now located in London, where he works in digital marketing. His goal in writing for AFI is to stay involved with the game that has given him so much. Alex enjoys covering leagues and