A sports reporter has given himself one last chance of sporting fame and fortune after signing up for trials ahead of the next American Football season.

Kent Messenger journalist Alex Hoad, left, is a lifelong NFL fan and has dreamed of being a professional sportsman since he was a child.

But now the 6ft 4in, 19-stone reporter has signed up to the NFL Regional Combine trial in New York City in February after his application was recently approved.

The opportunity arose when Alex followed the fortunes of Team GB Olympic discus thrower Laurence Okoyewho who turned up to an NFL Regional Combine in Atlanta during a day-off from his warm-weather discus training.

The olympian posted some highly impressive figures during a series of ability and fitness-related tests and position-specific drills.

Laurence’s performances led him to being invited back to the league’s Super Regional Combine in Dallas, where he again excelled, attracting the interest of a host of teams before signing a pro-deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

“As an NFL fan, I followed his progress with interest and after some research, it turns out that pretty much anyone can do the same,” Alex wrote on Kent Online.

Alex in action before his NFL trial next month

Each year hundreds of the best college players attend an invite-only Scouting Combine where NFL executives, coaches, scouts and doctors from all 32 teams conduct a four-day ‘job interview’ in the lead-up to the draft.

“Thousands more college and international players won’t get an invite but rather than sitting at home and hoping they did enough on the field last season to get noticed, for them – and me – there is now the Regional Combine programme, launched by the NFL in 2012 ‘to ensure no worthy player is overlooked’, he added.

Top performers from each Regional Combine programme will be invited to attend the Super Regional Combine, in Detroit in April.

“Now my ‘worthiness’ or otherwise as a player, and my age, has been the subject of some good-natured debate at work and at home for the past couple of months, however under the principle of wanting no regrets, I filled in an online form, chose New York City as my preferred destination, paid a registration fee, signed some waivers and clicked ‘submit’ without a moment’s hesitation,” he wrote.

“A few days later, I received word that my NFL ‘audition’ – for want of a better word – will be at 12.30pm on Saturday, February 15. My one last shot.

“The best-case scenario is to impress scouts and officials so much that you get invited to the Super Regional Combine.

“From there, another impressive performance could get you selected by one of the 32 professional teams as part of the annual NFL Draft or see you offered a pro contract as a free agent.

“The worst case – and by far the most likely – scenario is that I get my five minutes in the artificial halogen sun of the New York Jets indoor training facility in February before being politely sent home.

“At least I’ll never have to think ‘if only I’d….”

Over the next six weeks, Alex is writing a series of articles about American Football and chartering his own progress as a sports journalist with one last long shot at making it to the big time.