Hayne signs with major sportswear giant

Jarryd Hayne has signed with major sportswear giant Under Armour, joining some of sport’s biggest names.

Hayne will join a high-profile stable comprising NBA stars Paddy Mills and Stephen Curry, star NFL quarterback Tom Brady and world No.1 golfer Jordan Spieth.

“This happened over the course of a couple of months going back and forth,” Hayne told Channel Nine’s Today show. “It was great to get the deal done.

“Yes, to be with the company, it is all about the underdogs and that’s something that I have loved and the presentation was great that I seen many months ago.

“There are some great guys on board, Paddy Mills, Stephen Curry and blokes like that that definitely look up to them and have taken America by storm.

Hayne, who was only confirmed in the 53-man San Francisco 49ers roster last week, took a major gamble by quitting the NRL where he was a superstar.

He has taken a drop in salary to follow his lifelong dream and has been living in a hotel in the US.

“I have been in here (hotel) for about four months now so it has been torture. I am not keen on hotels. It has been tough. Just little things like that, just having the comfort of your own place, little things that were sacrificed along the journey.

“Being comfortable and just, I guess, literally just not having four walls. That’s pretty much all I’ve been living in for the last couple of months.

“It is one of those things that I kind of just embraced and knew that I just had to go through that. That was part of the experience, part of the test.”

The San Francisco 49ers kick-off their season against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday (Tuesday AEST), but Hayne remained coy about his chances of starting.

“I haven’t been spoken to personally by the coach or anything like that. For us it is just about preparing. I think the NFL as well, it is a game that it is kind of not like league where you are out there for 40 minutes.

“You are only out there for little periods of time. Mentally it is a lot different in preparation. It is more if you get the call-up you get the call-up.

“If you don’t, you know what I mean, you don’t … you just go through the procedure of that. For me, it is all about the experience and just learning every day.”

San Francisco coach Jim Tomsula has been playing a cat and mouse game all week with the mentor saying he wanted to keep his opponents in the dark about his line-up.

The teams will be announced 90 minutes before kick-off.

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