Gold medalist Stona among 14 to try out for NFL

Reigning Olympic men’s discus champion Roje Stona has switched sports and will try out for the NFL through its International Player Pathway program.

Stona, 25, will hope to emulate the lies of Jordan Mailata who progressed through the IPP to earn a place on an active roster with the Philadelphia Eagles. Stona will be joined on the 14-player IPP by Australian rugby star Jordan Petaia along with athletes from Fiji, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

Stona took Olympic gold in Paris in August and was contacted soon after that triumph by the IPP with the chance of taking up a spot on the 10-week program. Stona has previous experience with American football, having tried out a pro day while at the University of Arkansas and spending time at minicamps with the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers last spring.

Scouts at the pro day said he had the skill set to try out as both a defensive end and tight end.

Stona decided to test his arm by competing in discus and prioritized that, culminating with an Olympic-record throw of 70 meters in Paris.

“After the Olympics, [the IPP] reached out again. I was like, ‘Yo, the door’s open’ again,” Stona told ESPN’s Alexis Nunes. “Of course, I’m take it. At the Olympics, I won gold, got a record. And after that offseason, they approached me again, so I took up the opportunity.”

Since the IPP program started, 41 international players have signed with teams, with 23 IPP athletes currently on NFL rosters and five on active rosters — Mailata (Australia), Efe Obada (Commanders/United Kingdom), Sammis Reyes (Vikings/Chile), Thomas Odukoya (Titans/Netherlands) and David Bada (Lions/Germany).

Stona enjoys watching the offensive side of the Lions and Chiefs, and he admires the Eagles, Ravens and Vikings defenses. His interest in the sport started by following Clemson when he was at college there, before transferring to Arkansas.

Stona is still trying to map out what the next couple of months look like. He’s kept the door open for a return to the discus one day, but his immediate focus is on impressing in the 10-week IPP camp which starts in January in Florida.

“It is a lot of variables. A lot of things can happen in a few months, you know what I mean?” Stona said. “So it’s hard to put opinion on what’s going to happen, but obviously I’m going to take it a step at a time. First, I’m going to make sure I try to go through this camp successfully.”