David James to train with the Miami Dolphins!

Aardvark

This should be interesting. I've often wondered how soccer and rugby players skills and fitness levels compare to those of American Footballers. Well we're about to find out - on a very small scale! - when David James gives it a lash next week.


From ... http://www.miamidolphins.com/pressbox/pressreleases/pressreleases.asp?contentID=2759


David James To Train With Miami Dolphins; England’s Goalkeeper Goes Head-To-Head With NFL Athletes
June 17, 2003


David James has accepted an invitation from the Miami Dolphins to attend their training camp on Tuesday, June 24th. One of Britain’s fittest and most powerful athletes, he will try out against some of the best that the NFL has to offer to help him to maintain a competitive edge as England’s number one goalkeeper.

The training camp will be an opportunity for David to learn about the physiological and mental techniques employed by NFL athletes to achieve optimum performance. As part of the process, David’s overall fitness will be assessed and he will also undertake a crash course with the Miami Dolphins players in three of the positions he might be most suited to - Quarterback, Wide Receiver and Kicker.

“I am delighted to have been invited - it’s a great opportunity to learn about more about the sport, and put myself up against some of the best athletes in the world, James said. “I was a fan in the 1980s and 90s and I can’t wait to see players like Ricky Williams going through their paces, and seeing how I stack up against him.

“American Football has always shown the way forward in terms of conditioning and performance and I am keen to apply any tips or insights that I can gain to my career as a professional footballer.”

West Ham United’s sports science consultant Alan Pearson said, “David is currently capable of kicking a football the length of a pitch, and throwing with accuracy and power over distances in excess of 45 metres. His 6-5 frame has an extremely low body fat ratio of around 8%, and is capable of propelling him from the ground into the air with tremendous explosive acceleration. This is a great opportunity for David to build his profile as an athlete in the US.”

Tony Allen, Director of Game Development for the NFL in Europe, said: “David is exactly the kind of European sports star who we feel has the all-round athleticism and ability to hold his own in the NFL. It will be interesting to see him being put through his paces. As we step up our search for European athletes who can develop into potential NFL players, we are excited about the Dolphins giving us the opportunity to showcase a sportsman of his physical ability in an NFL environment.”

A powerful and talented goalkeeper, James started his playing career with a four-year stint at Watford, before going on to play 215 Premier League games during a seven-year stay at Liverpool, winning the Football League Cup in 1995. He then moved to Aston Villa, where he spent two seasons before being transferred in 2001, for a £3.5 million fee, to West Ham United.

James was first selected for the England team in 1997, when he played in a 2-0 win against Mexico. His outstanding form for his club and country in the past 12 months has seen him estabish himself as the undisputed number one goalkeeper for the England team, for whom he has now made 16 appearances.

Dont be at yourself

Hehehe, old butterfingers is going to be a wide receiver, eh?

Sundy

Originally posted by NekkidBibleMan
Hehehe, old butterfingers is going to be a wide receiver, eh?

One of the biggest misconceptions of david james, not butter fingers at all. Just because he went for more crosses than any other keeper, percentages meant he had to drop more.

When he played for villa he was like an extra defender for corners and free kicks, cause he would catch anything anywhere in the box. And he is one of the best penalty stoppers in the premiership, so dont slag him

ykt0di9url7bc3

More times i can remember James flying out of his goal and completely missing/fumbling the ball and swearing violently at the TV as he lands his ass in "no man's land"...


But its been a while since i've seen him play....should be interesting to watch

Space Coyote

That 'butter-fingers' tag is gonna haunt DJ for the rest of his life. But, seen as he's England's numero uno at the moment, it's not fair to keep slagging him. He's a bloody good goalie. The thing is that every keeper that joins Liverpool has to have a dodgy spell. It always happens. I blame Joe Corrigan, he's a fúcking jinx. And as soon as they leave they turn out to be pretty class. Brad Friedel...

vorbis

His outstanding form for his club

Correct me if I'm worng but didn't West Ham get relegated. Also going for a cross as a goalkeeper and missing it does make you a dodgy goalie.

StickyMcGinty

he aint called Calamity James for nothin....

hard to believe hes english goalkeeper, at least we dont have any dodgy keepers like him for ireland.

liverpool tend to loose keepers based on their short term form, and then they do well at anouther club (Westerweld) but this aint the case with james

Sundy

Vinny how many times have you watched david james play? I have watched him catch more crosses than any other keeper ive ever seen.

its obvious you a bit narrow minded and cant see past a nick name, remind us of the last time you heard about david james drop a clanger?

and vorbis his % drop rate is no higher than any other goalie!

So like it or hate it he is a good goalie and also the best england have

Amz

I imagine David James' fitness levels will be superior to those of his Miami Dolphins counterparts. American football teams tend to focus their training on building muscle mass (hypertrophy) and/or power, so James' endurance and speed etc should be at levels greater than his team mates.

It'll be interesting to see how the skills he's acquired as a keeper will stand to him in this new code. Also if he's successful I wonder if this will become a trend followed by more keepers.

I for one will be monitoring his progress.

Also I agree with sundy in his criticism of VinyL, James clearly hasn't an abnormally large blunder rate otherwise he'd hardly still be getting a game at club level let alone in international matches!

Calamity James is a nickname created by tabloids and obviously you can't look beyond what you read in the paper and make up your own mind about his ability as a keeper

p.pete

Should be cool to see - hope he doesn't get injured, things are only starting to go really well in his soccer career. He was Englands B keeper years ago and was expected to be where he is now years ago (full endorsement for the Corrigan jinx theory).

vorbis

oh dear flaming Seaman is ok but not James? You say his drop % is average. However since he comes for more balls that means he drops more. That sounds like a unfair criticism but it isn't. He comes for too many balls that a defender should be geting. If a defender misses a cross the goalie is still there. However if James misses then whos left? As for last clanger see the Slovakia match.

Imposter

Never mind the drop percentages. The main problem is with his decisions. He has a skill in making god awful decisions such as coming for 'that' cross or coming outside the box to beat an attacker to a ball. Apart from that he's quite ok as a keeper but I don't think he should be England no 1. All keepers make mistakes but most of his are bourne out of stupid decisions rather than his ability, imo.

frood4t2

Any goalie with a reasonably good foot could kick or punt in the NFL. Tony Meola, the former US goalkeeper, nearly made it onto the New York Jets as a punter shortly after the '94 World Cup.

James seems to be a solid height and weight to be a receiver, too, but is he fast enough? And if he drops these crosses like some of you say...

And there's no way he could step in and be a quarterback. A good goalie has at least the amount of poise that a good quarterback does, but not a lot of other skills.

I'm assuming that James will go back to being the English and West Ham goalie, but this is a pretty neat experiment on his and the Dolphins' part. As a fan of both football and American football I wonder how James will do.

p.pete

I heard his initial attempts at receiving were terrible but it is going to be difficult with the different shaped ball.

I dont really see how he would be good as a keeper - yes he has a good kicker but the transition would be a lot easier for a rugby player (Similar shaped ball and lots of experience aiming it between the posts).

James has a particularly good throw but there is an awful lot of tactical awareness that he just isn't going to get from a short training camp.

Sundy

yeah james does have an amazing throw. I remember one day at villa park him throwing the ball and it still being in full flight going over the half way line!

Anyway this whole training camp looks alot like a big publicity stunt and little else!