User:Fractal Extent/sandbox

=NFL Operation Discovery=

=IPP= The transition of the athletes from novice footballers to potential NFL players occurs in the following phases;
 * 1) Prospective athletes from around the globe are identified, scouted and vetted before a handful are invited to attend the IMG Academy in Florida starting the second week in January.
 * 2) There they spend 11 weeks intensively up-skilling and conditioning themselves and adapting to the demands made of -and resources available to- a professional athlete in American sport. This structured program is under the supervision of Aden Durde (NFLUK head of football development), Will Bryce and two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora.   This phase concludes with the NFL International Pro Day
 * 3)  They then have a few weeks where they can go home before the NFL Draft in late April. If they are drafted by a team then, like all new NFL players, they go to rookie mini-camp for organised team activities (OTAs) followed by pre-season training.

Divisions are chosen in a random draw

2016 season
In the first year two candidates were initially scouted and invited to training; French wide receiver Anthony Dablé and Harry Innis a tight-end from England. The training program took place at XPE Sports in Boca Raton, Florida led by Tony Villani. beginning in late January. Within three weeks of starting the programme, Dablé and Innis were invited to try-out with the New York Giants  and Dablé secured a contract as an un-drafted free-agent, signing the same day. Moritz Böhringer from Germany, another wide-receiver, was unearthed and brought into the programme to work alongside Innis now that Dablé's program would be changing as a result of his securing a spot with the Giants. Innis continued to the end of the program for another six weeks and had several opportunities to impress NFL coaches including a Regional Combine in Minnesota and try-outs with the Atlanta Falcons and the Jacksonville Jaguars but he was unable to secure a contract. On March 31, Böhringer attended an NFL Pro Day in Florida and made a great impression with his size, physical ability and skills. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 6th round as the first player ever to be drafted without playing a down of college football in the US or Canada.

2017 season
After the success of this proof-of-concept year the programme was officially adopted by the NFL in 2017 and named the International Player Pathway. It continues to function in essentially the same manner as the pilot year though the time that the athletes spend in training has been extended by several weeks and there is now an organised system within the NFL's recruitment policies and procedures for assigning these players to teams. Additionally the number of candidates being accepted each year is continually increasing and the net is being thrown over an increasingly diverse group of sports and a more global range of nationalities to find potential players.

The IPP was instituted for the 2017 season, four players signed, one with each of the NFL teams in the NFC South.

2018 season
The program was extended into the 2018 season Five athletes were invited to the development academy competing for four roster spots in the AFC Central. In the end all five secured contracts as one (Jordan Mailata) was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles leaving the remaining four players a team each to go to.

2019 season
and continued into the 2019 season

Seven players competing for four places in the AFC East.