The International Pathway Program is the best way outside the draft to get into the NFL. Tight end Florian Bierbaumer of the Vienna Vikings has made it into the selection for 2024.

The International Combine was held in London at the end of September. European talents were scouted there in order to recommend themselves for the International Pathway Program (IPP).

We reported on the event. One of the players on site was Florian Bierbaumer.

The tight end plays for the Vienna Vikings in the European League of Football. The 25-year-old impressed so much at the Combine that he has now been accepted into the program,

“The NFL tried to create an atmosphere in London that was as close to reality as possible. Everything is planned from breakfast to dinner, you even have meetings afterwards. It’s all about football and it’s exactly what you want as a professional,” the tight end described the procedure on site at the time.

International Pathway Program as a career springboard

The program, which was introduced in 2017, is designed to give football talent from all over the world the chance to recommend themselves for a place in the NFL outside of the usual college and draft route.

For players from the IPP, special rules apply to NFL teams in terms of squad size, so that the talents are better protected from dismissal and have a higher chance of playing time.

“The program gets bigger every year and gives more and more international talent a chance in the NFL.”

Players such as Moritz Böhringer, Christopher Ezeala, David Bada and Sandro Platzgummer were also part of the program and are now familiar to almost every football fan in German-speaking countries.

ELF helps NFL with talent development

“Without going too far out on a limb, you can now say that the best talents in Europe play in the ELF or have at least received an offer,” said Bierbaumer about the development of the still young intercontinental league: “It’s very practical for the Americans that top European football is combined in one league.”

The NFL actively approached ELF officials about a possible collaboration between the two leagues, as Commissioner Patrick Esume explained in May.

Sunday NFL Countdown with Florian Bierbaumer from the @ViennaVikings
pic.twitter.com/v5wVfnzzYB

– Walter Reiterer (@footballaustria) September 17, 2023

The selection for the IPP is not just about hours of video footage for position coaches, but also viral scenes that find their way across the pond. When Bierbaumer made a monster catch in the ELF semi-final against the Stuttgart Surge, it was even featured on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown”.

The Austrian is convinced of his qualities, but still has an ace up his sleeve: “The fact that I can also be used as a long snapper could be a big factor when teams consider selecting me. I will also work on that in the offseason,” emphasized Bierbaumer.