Vodafone Warriors captain Ryan Hoffman is ticking off an item he’s had on his bucket list for some time – a personal development trip checking out the American sporting scene.
Hoffman, who’s doing a business degree, flew to the United States late last week on a whistle-stop tour before he’s due to join the rest of the NRL squad for preseason training later this month.
“I’ve got a huge passion for American football, more so for college football than the NFL and especially the USC Trojans (University of Southern California),” he said.
“I’ve been wanting to do a trip like this for years as part of my personal development for the future. My goal is to move into a football management role when I finish playing.”
First stop for Hoffman was Ohio State University where he was among a crowd of 108,750 at Ohio Stadium (The Shoe) to see the Buckeyes pump the Nebraska Cornhuskers 62-3 in their NCAA Division I contest on Saturday (Sunday NZT).
On Monday (Sunday in the States) Hoffman was at FirstEnergy Stadium for the NFL encounter between the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, the Browns losing 10-35.
He has spent the last two days at Ohio State University observing the Buckeyes’ football operation and has a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, planned for Wednesday his time.
He was also getting a real taste of the election, attending a victory party for Ohio senator Rob Portman today (Tuesday in the United States).
On Thursday, he’ll be at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio, spending the day with NCAA Division III side, the Mount Union Purple Raiders. Mount Union has won a record 12 NCAA Division III titles, all since 1993, and boasts an all-time record showing just 37 losses in more than 740 games played.
Hoffman then flies to New York where he’ll visit NBA franchise the Brooklyn Nets, where New Zealander Sean Marks is now the team’s general manager.
