Baltimore's Blue Brit

By Mark Barden

RHYS LLOYD FACTFILE Name: Rhys John Lloyd Born: 5/6/82, Dover Height: 5ft 11ins Weight: 231lbs Position: Kicker College: Univ of Minnesota

For a man on the verge of what could turn out to be a successful career in the NFL, Rhys Lloyd is remarkably laid-back.

Maybe it helps that the Baltimore rookie kicker is the first Ravens player to hail from England and still regards "real" football as his main sport.

He's also probably the NFL's only dyed-in-the-wool Chelsea fan, and cheerfully admits to not watching a lot of gridiron action.

This is not to underestimate Lloyd's resolve to make his name in America's most high-profile sport.

"I'm here to learn but also to break through," he told BBC Sport from his hotel near the Ravens' training camp at McDaniel College in Maryland.

"Obviously I don't want to be sitting around for years to come. But at the same time, I've got to learn my trade, so I'm in a good situation at the moment."

I don't see much change at all apart from I don't have to go to classes any more and I'm getting paid! Rhys on the switch from college football to the NFL

Dover-born Lloyd, 22, has retained his English accent despite moving to Minnesota with his family at the age of 15 when his father was offered a soccer coaching job.

He agrees it was "quite an adjustment" to make for a teenage boy - especially one showing great promise as what his new team-mates would call a soccer player.

"I'm a huge Chelsea fan, and I played for them at youth level in midfield until I was 14," Rhys explains.

"My dad worked for the club and had supported them since childhood, so I was basically born and bred on the Blues.

"It's hard to say whether or not I would have made it as a professional - there was a possibility but probably not with Chelsea because they're now at a different level.

"Mind you, as a fan I'm very happy with everything that's happened there in the last few years!"

British kicker given NFL chance

Lloyd signed for Baltimore shortly after Chelsea clinched the Premiership title in April, although he wasn't selected by them in the NFL draft.

"Gary Zauner, the special teams coach here, told me they might take me in the seventh round but that if they didn't they would be very interested in taking me right after it," he recalls.

"To be honest, if I wasn't going to go in the first few rounds, which was unlikely anyway as kickers don't tend to be picked early, I would have rather been a free agent.

"That way I got to chose where I wanted to go rather than having to go somewhere I maybe didn't want to. So I think it worked out better for me in that respect."

The Ravens were undoubtedly impressed by Lloyd's college football career with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Rhys stays calm under pressure for the Gophers

Amid the customary flurry of stats that surround any half-decent US high school or college sports star, Rhys' cool head under pressure stands out.

Gophers coach Glen Mason recalled last year how his team needed a 42-yard field goal in windy conditions to win the 2003 Sun Bowl in El Paso.

"I went to Rhys and said, 'What do you think Rhys? Can you make it from here?'. He said, 'How am I supposed to know coach?'.

"Then he looked at me and kind of hit me on the shoulder and said 'Let's give it a try. We don't have a choice'. Then he goes in there and makes the field goal."

Lloyd studied kinesiology, which he describes as "sports and leisure-type stuff", and is close to completing his degree.

He was a fast learner when it came to kicking.

"It wasn't until my last year at high school that I really thought about pursuing it and trying to go all the way," he says.

"As far as 'real' football over here is concerned, it's obviously not as big, so I felt there was a bit more opportunity in kicking."

NFL: The basic rules

As a football-mad youngster, he never saw any NFL games on TV before moving to the States - and watched very few after arriving.

"It was only when I started to play the game that I really started watching it," he said.

Amid all the hype and hoopla of US pro sport, that sense of slight detachment has served him well in the switch from college to NFL.

The master: Stover is one of the NFL's top kickers

"To be honest, I don't see much change at all apart from I don't have to go to classes any more and I'm getting paid!" Rhys says.

"Because of the position I play, I don't have to cope with how much faster the game is or anything like that."

He admits, though, to still feeling frustration at spending the bulk of any game on the bench, waiting to be called on to kick.

"Yeah, it's still a bit of a pain but I suppose I've learnt to live with it.

"I have noticed an improvement in my kicking already - I've got a good coach in Gary Zauner, and I'm learning a lot from the likes of (Ravens No 1 kicker) Matt Stover."

So how does he rate Baltimore's chances in the new season, which gets under way for them on 11 September with a home game against Indianapolis?

"I believe the Ravens are going to do really well this season. We've got an unbelievable defence and our offence is going to start picking up a little bit as well."

Any tips for the Super Bowl?

"I couldn't tell you, to be honest," Lloyd laughs. "Even though I'm playing it, it's still not my main sport."

Just don't tell coach Zauner...