Vikings sign absolute behemoth Polish tackle from German Football League

[LambeauLegs]

At 6' 9' and 350 pounds he seems to move pretty well. He is 27 years old.



There's a template for making it to the NFL: Grow up in the United States watching and playing football, move on to play college football to get noticed, get drafted or signed by a pro team.

It's not often you hear about a story like Babatunde Aiyegbusi.

The Minnesota Vikings signed Aieygbusi, an offensive tackle who played in the German Football League last season, seven days after he got his travel visa to the United States. Aiyegbusi is – are you ready? – 6-foot-9 and 351 pounds. He's the fifth Polish-born player in NFL history. Three of the other four are kickers.

Aiyegbusi never played college football. In 2013 he was playing in the Polska Liga Futbolu Amerykanskiego (the Polish American Football League if you need the translation). But when you're the size of an airport hangar and can move, you're going to get noticed if you're playing football on the moon.

According to an ESPN.com story, agent Jeff Griffin heard about Aiyegbusi from Kevin Curtis, a Texas Tech assistant coach who played safety in the NFL and NFL Europe. Curtis got a YouTube video of Aiyegbusi from a former coach in Europe, but Aiyegbusi couldn't play in college because of his professional experience. So Curtis passed it along to Griffin, and that started Aiyegbusi's journey.

I'll give you all the caveats before you watch this highlight video, that the competition is not what he will see in the NFL and he might be overwhelmed by the speed and size of defensive ends at the highest level and on and on ... but man just look at Aiyegbusi absolutely freaking maul his opponents. Just watch and have a laugh at this guy who looks like he was made on "Madden" push around guys half his size:

Can Aiyegbusi (the Vikings say his full name is pronounced bah-BUH-tune-day ah-YEG-boo-see if you're curious, but "Babs" for short) make it in the NFL? Who knows. He's obviously raw.But the 27-year-old obviously showed the Vikings enough in a pro day workout at the University of Texas-San Antonio and a private workout in Minnesota this week to sign him.

He came to the United States on a 22-hour flight, arriving in Sn Antonio at 3:50 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Vikings web site and ESPN.com. Judging by his highlight films, the defensive linemen in Poland and Germany are hoping he makes it in the NFL, just so they never have to deal with him again.

 

[Rock Strongo]

jesus christ.

 

[packerzrule]

Oh My

 

[Doublejive]

They rarely work out though,Colts tried Hafthor,i dunno maybe because he played some before who knows.

Are the Colts really thinking about signing behemoth strongman?

Are the Colts really thinking about signing behemoth strongman? - CBSSports.com

 

[Doublejive]

Second-year competitor at the Arnold Classic
Age: 24
Height: 6' 9"
Weight: 430 pounds

 

[DJ]

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

.......what's in his cup.........?!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Wow... That beats big Dan McCullers @ 6'7" 352

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I always feel like super tall lineman just wont be that great because you'd think faster/speedier edge rushers would just get around them too quickly and the lineman has to get WAY low to get any leverage without holding.

That said, Jonathan Ogden (also was 6'9" about same weight) who is a top 5 ALL time OT, would tell me to stfu lol. Feel he's a PRETTY rare exception though. Ogden was a FREAK athlete and quite a smart guy. For example, Babatunde Aiyegbusi's 40 yard and vert? 5.21 and 26 1/2. Ogden's time? 5.05 and 31" vert. Ogden was just a freak.

 

[sonnyblack65]

.......what's in his cup.........?!

12x3 member

 

[SteveDallas]

I like to see teams gamble on the outsiders. More unknown makes for more unpredictable games.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Just based on that video he is shot. He's relying entirely on his strength, absolutely no technique, he's whiffing on half his blocks. His strength will be completely neutralized in the NFL and DEs will swim move and sprint right past him. No chance he makes it.

 

[night]

Just based on that video he is shot. He's relying entirely on his strength, absolutely no technique, he's whiffing on half his blocks. His strength will be completely neutralized in the NFL and DEs will swim move and sprint right past him. No chance he makes it.

I think he would be better suited to be on the defensive side of the ball as a DT and bull rush every chance he gets or maybe at a NT to eat up blockers to free up DEs/OLBs.

 

[ducky]

. Ogden's time? 5.05 and 31" vert. Ogden was just a freak.

That is freakish athleticism for an undersized OL.

Jake Matthews last year was a top 6 pick despite being a little light and his combine results were 5.07 and 30.5.

They just don't make 'em like Ogden very often.

...

Even as a Viking fan I am not even going to learn how to say the new guys name for now. These types of signings so rarely work.

There is something about our team that likes these kinds of moves. Not sure why. The most obvious one is when we brought Brock Lesner to camp. But over the years there have been a lot like that.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

That is freakish athleticism for an undersized OL.

Jake Matthews last year was a top 6 pick despite being a little light and his combine results were 5.07 and 30.5.

They just don't make 'em like Ogden very often.

...

Even as a Viking fan I am not even going to learn how to say the new guys name for now. These types of signings so rarely work.

There is something about our team that likes these kinds of moves. Not sure why. The most obvious one is when we brought Brock Lesner to camp. But over the years there have been a lot like that.

Uhh, I'm not sure I follow. My point was Ogden was HUGE (6'9"/350 lbs) and performed that way. Ogden was anything but undersized.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Uhh, I'm not sure I follow. My point was Ogden was HUGE (6'9"/350 lbs) and performed that way. Ogden was anything but undersized.

No. He is stating that the results for Ogden would be good even for an undersized O-lineman. That makes Ogden's results even more unbelievable. The fastest 40 time for an O-lineman at this years combine was 4.98 seconds which is not much better than Ogden's time.

 

[ducky]

No. He is stating that the results for Ogden would be good even for an undersized O-lineman. That makes Ogden's results even more unbelievable. The fastest 40 time for an O-lineman at this years combine was 4.98 seconds which is not much better than Ogden's time.

Exactly.

I still can't believe that he went 4th overall. You put him in any of the last 10 drafts (save the Luck draft) and he is the #1 overall pick each and every time simply based on people understanding better the freakishness of his abilities IMO due to the combine being a bigger and more reported on event.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

No. He is stating that the results for Ogden would be good even for an undersized O-lineman. That makes Ogden's results even more unbelievable. The fastest 40 time for an O-lineman at this years combine was 4.98 seconds which is not much better than Ogden's time.

OH got it, thanks for clarifying.