The Swedish American Football Federation, SAFF, has announced the names of the 16 athletes taking part in the historic CFL-Sweden Combine scheduled for January 12 a Maxihallen in Norrköping, Sweden.
The combine in Sweden is one of a series of CFL Global Combines to be held throughout Europe, Mexico, and Japan and designed to assess and measure the size, speed, athletic ability and football skills of top players from outside Canada and the United States who have aspirations of playing professionally in Canada.
The international combines will be attended by representatives of the CFL league office along with the new Director of Global Scouting, Greg Quick.
The top players will be invited to Toronto from March 26-28 for the 2020 CFL Combine which will feature international prospects competing alongside their young Canadian counterparts from U SPORTS, the NCAA and junior football. The league’s biggest scouting event will be followed by two separate drafts in the spring – one for global players and one for Canadians.
In 2019, the CFL featured designated ‘global players’ from countries outside the U.S. and Canada on its nine member clubs – a first for the league. Next season, the number of global players per team (on game and practice rosters) will grow from up to three to as many as five.
As the CFL continues to deepen its international footprint and introduce new pathways for Canadians to play, it has also partnered with the leading gridiron football federations and leagues in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Great Britain, and Sweden, and discussions with other federations are ongoing.
| Last name | First name | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murphy | Eric | DB/LB | Örebro Black Knights |
| Gauthier | Sebastian | DB | Frankfurt Universe |
| Peterson | Nicholas | DB | Stockholm Mean Machines |
| James | William | DB | Arlanda Jets |
| Gudding | Marco | DL | Carlstad Crusaders |
| Johansson Diakiti | Sebastian | DL | Norrköping Panthers |
| Engström | Malcolm | DL | Stockholm Mean Machines |
| Rosander | Niklas | DL | Borås Rhinos |
| Akena | Joshua | FB | Stockholm Mean Machines |
| Dyrendahl | Hugo | LB | STU Northside Bulls |
| Blomgren | Eric | OL | Stockholm Mean Machines |
| Lindgren | John | OL | Carlstad Crusaders |
| Thornadtsson | Gabriel | OL | Uppsala 86ers |
| Wedberg | Kasper | RB | Thonon Black Panthers |
| Lindelöf | Per | WR | Stockholm Mean Machines |
| John | Daniel | WR | Stockholm Mean Machines |