If used as a slot receiver or a wide out, Hayne's freakish ability to catch the ball on the move would make him a potential asset. Would also help him as a kick-off or punt returner on special teams.

No one can question Hayne's ability to perform on the big stage. His efforts in State of Origin are the stuff of legend. He's not the type who will go missing when the lights are at their brightest.

This guy is taking a huge risk. He deserves credit for that. As a great competitor, he won't be lacking for desire. He's obviously outside his comfort zone. Maybe that's a good thing.

Some teams aren't averse to taking risks. Due to his upbringing in a different game, Hayne may bring with him a skill set that American born players don't have. Time will tell.

This is the elephant in the room. He hasn't played the game. Madden 2k14 doesn't count. Hayne's ability to learn will be tested as much as his physical strengths and weaknesses.

Hayne is a risk. Why would some of the traditionally-conservative NFL front offices take a punt on a 26-year-old when they can get an athlete they deem to be of similar skills who is five years younger?

Every year there are thousands of players coming out of college aiming to crack a spot in the big time. Proving yourself a better bet than these youngsters is easier said than done.

If used as a running back or receiver, Hayne will encounter defensive lineman and linebackers intent on sending him back to Australia. He's never had 150kg defensive lineman such as Haloti Ngata or Vince Wilfork launching themselves at him or 120kg linebackers like Patrick Willis or Luke Kuechly bearing down on him.

"Shift to halfback twin right open, swap 72 all-go special halfback shallow cross wide open." Makes perfect sense doesn't it? How about this one: "green right slot spider two wide banana." That's the type of quarterback gibberish Hayne is going to have to learn and be able to process immediately. Good luck.

At 11:11 on Wednesday morning, Jarryd Hayne started to cry.

In the middle of a press conference to announce his planned future in American football, he was thinking about the past. 

"I was probably about to become the highest paid player in rugby league but I'm a kid from Minto," Hayne said as he broke down. 

"My whole dream of being a professional athlete was to buy my mum a house and I did that. Everything else is a bonus."

Before he was a Parrammatta Eels stalwart, a two time Dally M award winner and an Australian representative, Jarryd was a boy growing up in a housing commission building.

The son of Auckland Warriors centre Manoa Thompson, he and his two sisters were raised by their single mother Jodie.

"Because I was a young mother and had a half-caste child, people would look down at me," Jodie said in a 2009 interview. "That was 20 years ago. Even the Islanders would give me filthy looks. People would ask me if Jarryd was adopted.

"I didn't care. As long as I was there for him, that was my thing."

Living in the south-west, Hayne would catch the same train to Westfields Sports High School as his future State of Origin team mate, Trent Hodkinson. He was childhood friends with Krisnan Inu and Israel Folau.

Hayne might have to turn to Folau for code-hopping advice. 

"I tell people all the time to follow their heart," he said on Wednesday. "I tell people all the time to challenge themselves, to not be comfortable. Don't do something that's easy, don't do something that's going to make you a better person."

Throughout the press conference, Hayne repeatedly stressed that his future would not be easy. He is yet to sign with a club and has not done extensive NFL training.  

"I know there are going to be hard times ahead for myself," he said. "There are going to be dark days. There's going to be times when I'm over there with no friends and no family, and I'm going to have to find something a bit more than love and passion, and I know I've got that. I've got that motivation. 

"I made a big decision today. Realistically I should have made it 12 months ago, but I guess I didn't have the courage, didn't have the manhood to do that. Today I do. I know it's going to be tough for some people, but as I stated before, as a person, as an athlete, that's where I want to head."

Wherever he does head in the United States, Hayne will be carrying his Sydney suburb's past. 

As Wednesday proved, you can take the boy out of Minto, but you can't take the Minto out of the boy. 

smh.com.au