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At 6'8", Daniel Faalele is taller than most NBA players, but the massive athlete has his sights set on another league — the NFL.
Faalele, originally from Australia, officially became one of the largest players to ever participate in the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday when he tipped the scales at 384 lbs., according toESPN.
The 22-year-old offensive tackle is thought to be the heaviest player to arrive at the event in more than two decades after former NFL player Aaron Gibson weighed 386 lbs. at the 1999 Combine.
Incredibly, this is not the heaviest Faalele has been — when he joined the University of Minnesota in 2018, he weighed a whopping 426 lbs.
“Being able to dominate someone — legally — is something that’s definitely fun,” Faalele toldUSA Today. “Always love getting pancakes and making someone’s day worse.”
Showing off his strength, Faalele drew cheers at the combine on Friday when he completed 24 reps on the bench press. Meanwhile, other draft prospects declined to participate, Browns Wire reporterJared Muellersaid on Twitter.
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Avideoof Faalele in action showed him accidentally lifting the bar over the weight rack, which drew gasps from those watching.
“Daniel Faalele’s arms are so long that he went to rack the bar only to go over the top of the bench,” tweeted Bleacher Report analystBrent Sobleski. “Vikings strength coach [said], ‘I ain’t ever seen that.'”
ESPN’sMel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShayrank Faalele as the sixth-best offensive tackle in the draft, which will take place April 28–30.
“Teenage me would be most impressed with how far I’ve come with my football IQ,” Faalele told the outlet on Friday. “Coming in, I really didn’t know anything. Seeing how far I’ve come with that, how fast I can learn the playbook, how much better my technique’s gotten, how much better I can get.”
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Faalele now hopes to use his unique physical gifts to carve out a successful career in the NFL.
“The sky’s the limit for me,” he said. “I feel like I definitely have a lot to show and I have a lot more room to grow. I feel like that’s the exciting thing about me.
“I have a lot more potential to reach,” Faalele added, “and I feel like that’s an advantage.”
source: people.com
