Sandro Platzgummer shows his skills in the pre-season test of the NY Giants against city rivals Jets. The Tyrolean, 24, advanced to the rushing yards leader, his return over 48 yards became a YouTube hit.
New York. After the debut of Bernhard Seikovits (Arizona Cardinals), Tyrolean Sandro Platzgummer had his baptism of fire in the NFL, the best football league in the world. The 24-year-old Tyrolean lost the “Derby” against the New York Jets 7:12 with the New York Giants, but showed great performance in his first preseason outing.
Platzgummer stormed to a 48-yard run – it was the longest in the whole lot. He came into the game as running back in the fourth quarter and promptly became the leading rusher of both teams. He received the ball four times and reached a total of 51 yards.
The Giants will play two more test matches in the preseason: Against the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots on August 30th. Then Platzgummer hopes to be one of 53 players who make it into the Giants season squad.
Seikovits made his first appearance for the NFL team Arizona Cardinals. The tight end from Vienna got minutes on Friday (local time) at 19:16 in the preparatory game over the Dallas Cowboys, mainly in the special teams. “It was a pleasure to play in front of the home fans,” said Seikovits in a short video on Twitter. The 23-year-old made it to the Cardinals through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program (IPPP).
To clarify: In Austria the players pay membership fees to their clubs, now two play and run for an engagement with an NFL team. Before them, only the kickers Toni Fritsch (Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl 1972) and Tony Linhart (New Orleans, Baltimore, etc) had achieved this in the 1970s. Ray Wersching (SF 49ers) was born in Mondsee, but has no connection to Austria.
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