Jarryd Hayne’s decision to try his hand in the NFL might take a lot longer than the 12-month window the NSW fullback has given himself to be a success.

The 32-team competition has just completed round six this season and, although teams tinker and change their rosters on a regular basis, mainly due to injuries, there is no shortage of players without clubs sitting by the phone waiting for a call.

Almost all of these have come through the college system, been drafted or spent time in the NFL system before being cut by other teams.

It is not unheard of for players with no American football experience to find a team but, during the middle of a season, it’s almost impossible with clubs already committed with salary caps.

Teams begin their summer training camp in July with 90 players all vying for a spot on the final 53-man active roster which has to be finalised a week before the start of the new season.

Each team is allowed a 10-strong practice squad outside of the 53 who get the chance to train with the rest of the team, hoping to catch the eye of the coaches and earn a promotion to the main squad.

Hayne said on Wednesday he’d initially target one of these spots when he moved to the US later this year to start his dream.

But he faces a hugely difficult test in a market filled with elite athletes with the benefit of a college career behind them.

But it is not impossible. British discus thrower Lawrence Okoye, who competed at the London Games and played rugby as a youngster, is on the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers having never played a first down in his life when he arrived in 2013.

Hayne’s freakish skills make him a standout in the NRL but, in the cut-throat world of the NFL, he will head Stateside with nothing more than impressive YouTube footage and no idea what position he can play.

And according to former AFL star Ben Graham, who enjoyed spells with New Orleans, New York Jets and Arizona, he faces an uphill battle having witnessed first hand the attempts of Willie Mason to try out for the Jets in 2006.

“I’ll never forget. I was on the practice field (when Mason arrived),” Graham told Fox Sports.

“All the players stopped dead and said, ‘Who’s this guy? He’s six foot five; he’s going to take my spot’.

“He didn’t perform very well because he hadn’t grown up with the sport.

“He didn’t know all of the ins and outs of the NFL and how to move in any position.”