National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie says it was ‘unbelievable’ to experience the NFL Super Bowl and reckons AFL clubs can learn a lot from their American counterparts.
Ogilvie witnessed the clash between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Phoenix, Arizona after receiving tickets from his wife as part of a Christmas gift.
Over 70,000 fans packed into University of Phoenix Stadium to watch arguably the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, and the veteran Crows recruiter said he had never experienced anything quite like it.
“It’s an extravaganza like I’ve never seen before,” Ogivle said on FIVEaa.
“The volume of the whole thing was just unbelievable.”
Despite the occasion, Ogilvie said he couldn’t help but put on his recruiter’s cap while watching from the stands.
“I had my binoculars up for most of the game and just looked at it a bit differently,” he said.
“It was interesting. It was the system and process of the Patriots versus a bit of talent and the flair of Seattle, and the system and process got up in the end.
“But if you took my knowledge and compared it to a Tommy Lynch or a Josh Jenkins, I wouldn’t even be in the same ball park as them.”
See some of Hamish's incredible photos of the event.
Ogilvie watched on as New England quarterback Tom Brady cemented his reputation as one of the greatest players in NFL history, winning his third Super Bowl MVP and a fourth championship ring in the Patriots’ 10-point win.
Brady holds a swag of NFL accolades including two NFL MVP awards, and records for the most career Super Bowl touchdown passes and most consecutive passes without interception.
Incredibly, Brady slipped through to selection No.199 in the NFL’s 2000 Draft.
“It’s a brilliant piece of recruiting,” said Ogilvie.
“We don’t have that many picks (in the AFL), so it’d be nice to get a pick 90 or a pick 80 or something that was that good.”
Ogilvie named Brady and Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch as two pro NFL footballers who could make the transition into Australian Rules.
“You’d also be happy with a few of those 194cm outside wingers jumping over the top of people,” said Ogilvie.
But given the exorbitant differences in salary, the trend is often in the other direction. Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca are among the names of ex-AFL stars to make it to the NFL stage.
Ogilvie said Adelaide’s 2014 vice-captains Rory Sloane and Patrick Dangerfield have all the right attributes to make it as NFL stars.
He said the explosiveness of Dangerfield was well-suited to the American code.
“I reckon he might be okay at it,” Ogilvie laughed.
“But I don’t really want him to go the NFL.”
Ogilvie also said Sloane’s toughness at the contest would appeal to many NFL sides.
“Rory Sloane could play anything, so he’d find a way to be good at it,” he said.
Ogilvie, who will fly home to officially resume work with the Crows midweek, said there was a lot that AFL clubs could learn from their American counterparts.
“We still learn a lot from the NFL teams in how they recruit, how they do list management, some of the analytics and metrics they use,” he said.
“It’s been a really good trip from that point of view.”
