Aspiring private equity analyst to start at quarterback for NFL’s LA Rams
All those City of London and Canary Wharf workers that still harbour boyhood dreams of walking onto the pitch for their favourite football club may have found a new hero.
The Los Angeles Rams, of the US’ National Football League (NFL), will enter the playoffs this year if they can win their final game of the regular season tonight.
Lose and they’re finished for 2020.
Lining up at quarterback for the Rams will be first-time starter and aspiring Wall Street analyst John Wolford.
Wolford worked as a private equity analyst in 2019 after failing to make the grade in the NFL.
He decided to give one final crack at the sport, playing a year in a little heard of amateur league and then gaining a spot as a backup to Rams star quarterback Jared Goff.
Before the Open newsletter: Start your day with the City View podcast and key market data
With Goff injured, Wolford will now make his first ever career NFL start in one of the biggest games for the franchise since it moved back to L.A. from St Louis five years ago.
His future career as an NFL pro has been so tenuous that he even still has a LinkedIn profile, which he has reportedly been using to search for a new private equity job.
“If this Sunday goes well, maybe I’ll just delete it,” Wolford told the L.A. Times.
He added: “I always thought I could make it, and maybe that was a little outlandish considering the percentages, but I did.
“I’m here now and I’ve dreamed of this since I was a five-year-old when I first put on a helmet. It’s cool to see it come to fruition. I’ve got to perform on Sunday, that’s my next step.”
The Rams will play the Arizona Cardinals tonight at 9.25pm London time.