A SCOTS schoolboy is on the verge of following home-grown Super Bowl winner Lawrence Tynes into American football's elite after being selected for a top training academy.
Connor Nicolson, 16, a pupil at Notre Dame High School in Greenock, will join around 500 other budding young stars at the Top Gun training camp for future National Football League (NFL) stars in Williamsburg, Virginia, later this summer.
Scouts from the top teams will run the rule over Connor, who lives in the town that produced New York Giants star Tynes, and around 500 other raw recruits to spot stars in the making.
Place-kicker Tynes has become a multi-millionaire through his on-field heroics which included two goals in the side's Super Bowl victory against New England Patriots in February.
Connor, who currently plays for Inverclyde Phoenix, said: "Hopefully I can go to an American college, get a scholarship. From that, hopefully, increase my academics as well as my athletic skills and move on to the professional level."
His mother Dorothy, a self-confessed American football fan, added: "I'll give him full support. We just hope everything works out, and he gets his dream. He wants to play at NFL level, and we'll help and support him all the way there. To get this is a great honour."
Inverclyde head coach Vince Gillen attended a training camp at Stirling University in April where Connor was watched being put through his paces by senior American football figures.
The camp provided American football training exclusively for the most elite youth and high school players.
He added: "Connor thoroughly deserves this chance. He has put a lot of work and effort into his training and has genuine quality. I know he will do well and perform to his best abilities.
"There has never been a better coaching line-up available to British players and coaches than these guys. It was a privilege to be able to learn from the best."
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