Handball meets NFL in France as Tyreek Hill visits PSG
20 Mar. 2024
One of the fastest American Football players in history visited The Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France this week to join in a training session with French side Paris Saint-Germain Handball.
Tyreek Hill, currently a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins NFL side, a 2020 Super Bowl winner and member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team, took part in what was billed as a ‘Handball Initiation’ session from the EHF Champions League side, led by big NFL fans Nikola and Luka Karabatic.
“He told me he had never seen handball; he doesn't know what it is,” said Nikola at the beginning of the session. “So, we'll explain it”.
The session saw the left-handed Hill being introduced to the resin used for gripping and spinning the ball and basic throwing with the Karabatic brothers before moving on to shooting at goal, with PSG’s Danish international goalkeeper Jannick Green between the posts.
“He’s not bad,” said Green about the shooting technique of the 30-year-old. “You know, it’s the first time he’s done it and it's not bad, he has no problem.”
There was also time for the brothers to throw passes to the receiver, nicknamed ‘Cheetah’ due to his sprinting speed, with an American Football on court with Luka later calling him on social media “…the best receiver in the world,” before adding with a wink “…the contract is waiting for you here.”
At the end of the session, the Karabatic brothers gave him a bespoke PSG shirt with his Miami number 10 and his name on the back, with Hill gifting them a Dolphins helmet in return.
"You're tall," said Hill, when meeting Nikola Karabatic for the first time and then being introduced to his brother, Luka. “It’s my first time playing. Apparently, you've got to be over 6.2 (1.88m) to play handball. It's very hard; a tough sport.”
PSG have won the last nine editions of the French LNH Division 1, known as the Liqui Moly StarLigue, and currently sit top of this season’s edition having won 19 and drawn one of their games. Next week, they commence their play-off double-header against Plock for a EHF Champions League quarter-final spot.
With the NFL on a break until September, last season, the Miami Dolphins lost in the play-offs to the Kansas City Chiefs who went on to win the Super Bowl.
Hill was in Paris to deliver a ‘Youth Football and Speed Camp’ alongside the Paris Musketeers, the only professional American football team in France, who compete in the European League of Football (ELF).
Photo credit: N. Nsenga Mutoka/PSG Handball