Meet Anthony Dable, the New York Giants' New French Wide Receiver

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports France.

The news has thrilled all in France who call soccer football. A French player, Anthony Dable, signed a contract last week with the New York Giants. Twenty-four years after Richard Tardits — born in Bayonne, France, and the only French player to have played in the NFL — suited up as linebacker for the New England Patriots, there might finally be another to follow in his footsteps. After a career in France with the Grenoble Centaurs and in Germany, where he won two national titles and the European championship last year with Brunswick's New Yorker Lions, Dable is now closer to his American dream.

But before dreaming of playing in the Super Bowl and spending evenings in the most exclusive clubs in New York City, the 27-year-old wide receiver, who calls himself Dablatron on social media, has to convince his coaches that he needs to make the team.

VICE Sports: Congratulations! How do you feel a week later?

Anthony Dable: It's weird actually, I still can not believe it. There have been many people who have messaged me, and I've tried to talk to those people close to me. I talk a lot to my mother. She's the one I called when I first heard the news. I told her that I had signed and then she started to cry. She was so happy. It was hard to keep my composure.

How did the Giants find you?

Osi Umenyiora, who played 10 years with the Giants and has won two Super Bowls, saw my video and he believed in me. I met him once—I did a few tryouts in London [Umenyiora works for the NFL in Europe and specifically in the UK] that didn't result in anything. But he told me to go train in Florida for six weeks. Meanwhile, he showed my video to Giants officials and they did not wait for me to finish this training camp in Florida. They contacted me directly for a tryout. I had a tryout scheduled with seven other teams but they were the first to call me and that's why I was there. The video is very important, but then you must perform when they see you. I had to impress them in person.

What were you thinking that day? You thought you had a chance to get signed?

I control what I can control. The decision was theirs but I did what I could do. I did not ask a lot of questions. I knew I had to pass more tests for them.

What happened during these tests?

When I arrived, I was measured and weighed. Then we had some agility tests. Then we ran around the track for about 15 minutes. The medical tests took about four hours. After the four-hour physical, they brought me into an office and they told me they wanted to make me a Giant.

What was the first thing you thought at that moment?

In fact, I first thought to tell them that I had other tryouts scheduled. The next day I had to go to Seattle, then on that Friday I had to go to Kansas City, and then to Jacksonville on Monday. But they made me understand that they did not want me to go to those other tryouts. Then they asked me what they could do to sign me. I told them to call Osi. They called him, and then he called me. We talked a lot and we came to the conclusion that it was a good decision to stay with the Giants.

So what happens now?

The adventure with the Giants begins on April 11th. That's when I go to rookie camp, learn the playbook, and meet with the coaches. This is a critical time. Some of the veterans also come to train. The rookies camp lasts until June 26.

Then in August, the regular training camp begins. This is really the place to prove myself and to be among the 53 players in the squad. They take 90 pre-camp players but keep only 53 for the season. So for now there are no guarantees. They can cut you at any time. I control what I can control: my involvement, my performance, my knowledge of the playbook, my respect for the coaches. But the decision is in their hands.

What are your days like now?

I get up, I eat, I arrive at 7 AM at the training center [Ed: Dable trains currently in Florida in Boca Raton]. I catch balls, I go shopping, I have lunch, I rest, I catch balls, I lift weights, I'll run and find other ways to entertain myself. There are promising college players who are also training there and some NFL players, too. There is everything. You relearn how to run to fit the NFL style. There are NFL players who teach you how to properly run routes, and how to block. You adapt to the game here. I also do acupuncture, massage, recovery.

What does the NFL represent to you?

The NFL for me, it's a dream. But this is only the beginning. The Giants believe in me and I have to keep proving to them to keep believing in me, and that I deserve a spot on that 53-man roster.

Your story reminds us of a name from the past: Richard Tardits, the French player who played two years as a linebacker for the New England Patriots.

It is not the same course, but what he did in the NFL was huge. It was tremendous accomplishment. So obviously I want to do the same as him. This is the dream. You must believe in yourself. But it's not enough. It takes two to make dreams come true. I have never stopped believing in me, and then there was another person who wanted to believe in me: Osi Umenyiora. And that's why it happened.

How did you start playing football?

I got to know the sport through a video game. Then a few years later, while I was playing a lot on the video game console and I was watching the Super Bowl, I learned that there was a club in my town and I started playing at the age 19.

It's really late to start playing a sport at 19 years old, not to mention even thinking about turning pro. When you find out that American kids start playing at age five or six, do you ever wonder what you might have accomplished in the NFL if you had started playing at a younger age?

No, I can not control it, so it's useless to think about "What if I was born in the USA?" or "What if my father was a former player?" … In truth, you can never know what might have happened in life. So I do not want to think about it, and imagine that it could have been otherwise. I am who I am, I come from Grenoble and it's happening now.

What are your remembrances of your time playing for Grenoble?

I played there from 2007 to 2012. I had some of the best memories of my life. We had a great generation of players in 2011. We moved into the first division that year, and then we went to the final the following year. Frankly it was crazy. These are the best years of my life. That's how it all started.

After playing for the Centaurs of Grenoble, I went to Canada. But certain regulations didn't allow me to play there. So after several months there, I decided to go back to Europe, and I went to Germany, where I won two national championships and then the European championship.

For me, it hasn't been about the victories. It's been about the journey. And I loved our journey from how we started in the second division and then went to the final with Grenoble. And I enjoyed my journey in Germany, all the experiences, the training, the wins, overcoming injuries to win the championship. This is what I like to think about.

Finally, what are your thoughts about the French football team, who finished in fourth place in the last International Federation of American Football championship? What needs to be done so they improve?

The team needs to be more consistent, to play more professionally, that is to say, make fewer mistakes. Everyone runs at the same speed, and mostly plays at the same level. The details make all the difference. This is why it's important that some of us become pros.