@mld-woody said:

I am just going by what you told me.

@the-gipper said:

Ergo, the so called popularity of that sport. More of an economic issue that a quality of the sport issue.

The larger the talent pool from which to gather, the better the quality of the product, at least as sports go.

@mld-woody said:

Ergo, the so called popularity of that sport. More of an economic issue that a quality of the sport issue.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Give other countries time to develop, and they would give us a run. Look at baseball, Japan, Korea, Cuba, etc. all have excellent teams.

The problem is the cost of playing football. There is a lot of protective equipment needed to play the game. The reason soccer, basketball, and baseball are so popular world wide is the lack of protective equipment needed (unless you want to count a helmet and glove in baseball) and the relatively cheap cost of buying or making the necessary equipment to play the game (ball, goal, basket, bat, etc.)

Basically it's the same reason why you don't find many poor kids taking up skiing. It cost too much. Some of the more developed countries may have a large enough of a population who could afford to play the game but then you have to take into consideration the potential for injury (high) and the availability of opportunities for financial gain (low) making the risk/reward equation an un-viable balance.

Basically I wouldn't buy too much stock in this taking off although I would be very interested in putting together an All - Star NFL team to see how badly they beat everyone else. Hell the debate about who to put on that roster would be enough fun in and of itself.

@the-gipper said:

The only player I recognize on that list is QB Cody Hawkins. I believe he played college ball at Colorado a few years ago and was pretty good.

If we can "beat the world" with this team, it's no wonder that American football hasn't caught on anywhere else yet.

EDIT: Never checked the links prior to posting, Hawkins did play at Colorado. 1/1

@mld-woody said:

Except that final game vs. Japan a few years earlier was a 23-20 double OT game......kind of like Browns/Jets in 1986.

• 5 Matt Bassuener
• 11 Micah Brown
• 7 Cody Hawkins
• 13 Ben McLaughlin

Running Backs

• 40 Richie Brockel FB/TE
• 37 Jason Haller
• 32 Henry Harris
• 1 Nate Kmic
• 20 Taylor Malm
• 25 Da'Shawn Thomas

Receivers

• 81 Alex Anderson
• 2 Ricardo Lenhart
• 88 Mike Peterson TE

• 60 Alex Alvarez OL
• 78 Darius Henderson OL
• 54 Brandon Jordan OL
• 72 Frank Knights OL
• 65 Josh Koeppel C
• 70 Luke Summers OL
• 77 Daniel Warderburg OT
• 60 Cameron Zipp C

Defensive Linemen

• 91 Charles Bay DE
• 51 Gerard Bryant DL
• 99 Daniel Calvin DT
• 55 Daniel Catalano DT
• 93 Wacey Coleman DL
• 92 Johnny Dingle DT
• 98 Tyler Roach DL
• 75 Nick Rossi DL/OL

• 42 Demetrius Eaton
• 43 Terrence Jackson
• 56 John Jacobs
• 23 Osayi Osunde
• 44 Zach Watkins

Defensive Backs

• 30 Maurice Banks S
• 10 Myles Burnsides S
• 29 Diezeas Calbert CB
• 18 Tommy Connors S
• 27 Jeff Franklin CB/S
• 21 Jordan Lake S
• 12 DeWayne Lewis CB
• 33 Joe Sturdivant S
• 24 Daniel Tromello DB
• 22 Stephan Virgil CB

Special Teams

• 17 Gregg Berkshire K/P

Has anyone ever heard of any of these American players on the last squad?