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Dai Sijie
| No. 64 – New York Jets | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive lineman |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | August 24, 1999 Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany |
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight: | 302 lb (137 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: | UCF (2021) |
| NFL draft: | 2025: undrafted |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Active |
Leander Wiegand (born August 24, 1999) is a German professional American football offensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the European League of Football (ELF) for the Cologne Centurions, Rhein Fire and Munich Ravens. He joined the NFL through the league's International Player Pathway (IPP) program in 2025.
Early life
Wiegand was born on August 24, 1999, in Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany.[1] He grew up playing soccer and handball.[2] He later became interested in American football and joined the local Aachen Vampires in 2018, at age 19, playing for them until 2019.[1][3] An offensive lineman, he was noticed at a football camp run by Björn Werner in 2019 and was invited to the Gridiron Import Tour in 2020, though it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
Wiegand was later trained by former NFL player Chris Mohr and was offered an athletic scholarship to play college football in the U.S. for the UCF Knights, committing to play for them in November 2020.[4][5] According to Mohr, Wiegand became the first German to receive a scholarship for an NCAA Division I team "without the college ever seeing him play before. It was purely about his athletic ability".[5] He flew to the U.S. in 2021 to play for the Knights, but after a few months, left the school and returned to Germany for personal reasons.[6]
Professional career
In 2022, Wiegand signed with the Cologne Centurions of the European League of Football (ELF).[7] After the 2022 season, he was invited to the NFL's International Combine, telling Kicker that "they told me at the time that I had perhaps the best workout of all the players".[6] However, despite his performance there, he was not selected for the league's International Player Pathway (IPP) program.[6] He later performed at the Canadian Football League's pro day in 2023, but was limited after contracting a virus.[6] He returned to the ELF for the 2023 season, joining the Rhein Fire.[1] He was named first-team All-ELF and helped the Fire win the league championship.[1] He then played for the Munich Ravens in 2024 and was coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas.[6] He was named second-team All-ELF for the 2024 season.[8]
In December 2024, Wiegand was selected for the NFL's International Player Pathway, training with other participants at IMG Academy in Florida.[9][10] At his pro day, he recorded 38 bench press repetitions, five more than anyone who had participated at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.[7] After going unselected in the 2025 NFL draft, Wiegand signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d "Players to watch" (PDF). football-austria.com. Munich Ravens. June 2024. pp. 3–4.
- ^ Harfst, Sebastian (April 24, 2025). "Vom Bau in die NFL?" [From Construction to the NFL?]. RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland – via PressReader.com.
- ^ a b "Centurions verpflichten Leander Wiegand" [Centurions sign Leander Wiegand]. football-aktuell.de (in German). February 8, 2022.
- ^ Beede, Jason (November 20, 2020). "UCF football lands commitment from German OL". 247Sports.
- ^ a b Hahn, Chris (April 28, 2022). "Draft Special: How Marcel Dabo or Leander Wiegand are trained by former NFL pro Chris Mohr". European League of Football.
- ^ a b c d e "Leander Wiegand: Das ist die deutsche NFL-Hoffnung" [Leander Wiegand: This is the German NFL hopeful]. Kicker (in German). December 20, 2024 – via archive.today.
- ^ a b Malchow, Alex (April 27, 2025). "From ELF to NFL! Leander Wiegand signs with NY Jets". European League of Football.
- ^ "Deutsches Football-Talent schafft Sprung in die NFL" [German football talent makes the leap into the NFL] (in German). RTL. 27 April 2025.
- ^ Collins, Ben (9 December 2024). "Petaia, Stona & Sexton named in NFL's 2025 IPP class". BBC.
- ^ Malchow, Alex (February 26, 2025). "ELF Stars Maceo Beard and Leander Wiegand chasing NFL IPP dream". European League of Football.
- ^ Simile, Joe (1 May 2025). "Jets Pay Big Bucks to Cleverly Sign German Behemoth". Athlon Sports – via Yahoo Sports.