The phone call that made Briton an NFL trailblazer

Sport InsightThe phone call that made Briton an NFL trailblazerPublished2 minutes agoImage source, Getty ImagesByBen CollinsBBC Sport JournalistSeydou Traore has been waiting four hours for the phone call that will change his life. When it comes, he is the picture of calm. Next to him, his mum Zaia is anything but.Traore and his family are sitting backstage at the NFL Draft, where the 23-year-old Briton - who did not see his loved ones for five years after moving to the US to try to become an NFL player - has just been told his dream is coming true.Zaia, who is French-Algerian, lets out a 'zaghrouta' - a celebratory trilling sound that is traditional in north Africa - sheds tears of joy and has an out-of-body experience in a reaction that goes viral."I was in a trance," she tells BBC Sport. "I was like 'oh my God, it's happening, he's done it'. That's what I kept telling myself. It was pride and relief because it's been years, and it was all worth it."Of all the social media content around Seydou's achievement in being the first graduate of England's NFL Academy to complete his pathway to the NFL, it is the clip of his mum he keeps watching.He knows that she knows exactly what it has taken to defy the odds and become an NFL trailblazer.A pep talk from the great Travis Kelce was just a tiny part.To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, Seydou Traore and his mum on NFL draft callBorn and raised in south London, Traore was naturally athletic and tried many sports. He was playing football as a goalkeeper when he found American football at 16 with London Warriors.In 2019 he earned a place in the first intake at the NFL Academy, a development programme initially based in north London and now in Loughborough. The academy recruits from many sport backgrounds and American football experience is not necessary. Almost all draft prospects com...