Antoine Dupont's vacation in the USA: he meets LeBron James and discovers another world with American football

Antoine Dupont célébré sur la place du Capitole, à Toulouse, après son titre olympique avec l'équipe de France à VII. MAXPPP – FREDERIC CHARMEUX

Antoine Dupont tries American football in Los Angeles. “Everything is huge”, he says. 

Rugby star Antoine Dupont, Olympic Sevens champion in Paris this summer, was able to follow an introduction to American football on Thursday with the NFL team Los Angeles Chargers, “the best way to spend a vacation". Expected at training with Stade Toulousain next week, Antoine Dupont decided to end his vacation in Los Angeles.

He meets LeBron James

After meeting LeBron James on Wednesday, the 27-year-old rugby player was able to get a taste of American football at the Chargers' training center, “The Bolt”, which opened this summer in the southwest of the megalopolis. “I first started watching the team training. We toured all the facilities, it's pretty incredible, just like the Americans, the locker rooms, the screens, the games room, everything is huge. Afterwards I was able to do some “skills”, catch balls, tackle technique, work on footwork with the “kicker” Cameron Dicker too, then a bit of core strengthening with the fitness trainer”, he told AFP and L'Equipe.

It's the best way to spend a vacation

“It's the best way to spend a vacation, while being able to work too, while discovering some pretty cool things. And the sport that is perhaps closest to rugby is still American football." Dupont shone in Los Angeles at the beginning of March to help the French team win the rugby sevens tournament on the world circuit, the first step in a fabulous summer that ended with the Olympic gold medal in Paris.

He can't imagine trying his hand at US football

In the meantime, he led Stade Toulousain to the Champions Cup – Top 14 double. “You see the guys' demands on a daily basis, even in the cafeteria, where there are menus, food supplements, the weight room, the locker room, it goes all the way to the choice of cleats, they put all the chances on their side, with considerable means”, appreciated Dupont, who was able to exchange his jersey with the renowned Khalil Mack, member of the Chargers defensive team.

Although he rubs shoulders with the tough guys of rugby all year long, Dupont was impressed by “the guys' physique, there are still some serious guys!” “In rugby players still have to run so they can't be too heavy. There are some really specific positions where it remains quite static, so the guys are really massive."

I don't even have a position in which I could project myself

Could the Frenchman, who will attend the clash between the Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, winners of the Super Bowl in February, take inspiration from the Welshman Louis Rees-Zammit, an international rugby union player who is trying his luck in the NFL this year ? "No, I think it's still far removed from rugby, it would really be necessary that I spend a lot of time there. And honestly I don't even have a position in which I could project myself”, he said.