Meet Louis Hedley, the 25-year-old Australian fighter, tattooed, fired and missed in Miami | Bleacher's report

This was not meant to be an elaborate show. A hope of JUCO 3 stars in making its official decision. In a few hours, however, Hedley became viral and became an internet star.

Two months later, with spring football in full swing and Hedley's arrival on the campus at the end of May, the man behind the viral moment is about to become a real presence in the world university football – a redshirt for one of the most decorated programs in the country.

When he debuts, it will be the culmination of a trip like no other in college football, and much bigger than the tweet that announced his arrival.

It's a trip filled with indeterminate hours in the gym and tattoo armchair. A trip that led him from the top of a scaffolding scaffolding in an Australian desert to a tattoo shop in Bali, which he actually owned. A trip that saw him take a leap of faith and abandon his old life by enrolling at City College San Francisco in hopes of one day playing football professionally. A trip now to South Beach, Hedley having played football in the United States for only a few years.

"My goal is the NFL and, for now, I do not really have a B plan," Hedley told Bleacher Report. "All my energy goes into that."

We start in a small fishing town off the coast of Western Australia, where the waves of the Indian Ocean collapse against the shore. It's here, in the small town of Leeman, that Hedley spent the beginning of his life.

Hedley's father, Richie, was a pencil fisherman. And as a result, much of his early years were spent on, in, or around the ocean. He loved Australian football from an early age, but because of Leeman's size, competitive sports leagues were often hard to find. This changed when his father found a job in Perth, Australia. With the participation of more competitive leagues, Hedley's passion grew and he began to devote himself to professional play.

In Australian football, Hedley was a half-back, a defensive position that allowed him to regularly play ball and show the power of his leg.

As his professional playing career began to tire him, Hedley's academics began to slide. As a senior, it became apparent that he could not graduate from high school. So he dropped out of school and took a scaffolding job.

"I have practically lived off the harness for seven years of my life," says Hedley. "It was very entertaining, and it allowed me to stay in shape while I was working in. In addition, it was super money and I did not have it. time to spend money. "

As a scaffolder, Hedley traveled to Western Australia to erect structures for projects. On the one hand, he worked for a year on a gas and oil site at the Wheatstone natural gas plant in Onslow, Australia. Hedley flew one month at a time and climbed the coast, above the bright, distinctive red land of the region. Then he went home for a week, then came back.

Meanwhile, the art collection on his body has grown.

He had his first tattoo at the age of 15 while visiting Hong Kong. That was his last name on his biceps. This ended up becoming a sleeve, then another sleeve, then extended to cover his torso, neck, head, and parts of his legs. He had not intended to cover as much of his body, but whenever he entered a tattoo shop, he could not resist.

"Most of the time, I basically went into the studio to go through a book and choose something," says Hedley.

Some tattoos have special meaning – as the man and woman tattooed to the left and to the right of a scarab on the throat, which belong to his grandfather and grandmother – but most do not have one. He says those who elicit the most reactions are the UFO who removes the cow on his forearm – one of his personal favorites – or the tattoos on the sides of his head, to- above his ear, a panda and the world held by a giant. hand.

Which one was the most painful? Once his chest finished, the artist examined his nipples rather than go around. The general thought was that it would look better if he did it. "I had the impression of being electrocuted," he says.

In 2016, his love for tattoos became a business when he and a close friend became owners of Rosemarrie Tattoo in Bali, Indonesia. After spending time surfing and exploring Bali, Hedley saw the purchase as a way to get more personal interest than to enrich it. And yes, it meant more less expensive opportunities to add ink to his body.

When Nathan Chapman saw Hedley for the first time, he did not know what to think. The head coach of Prokick Australia, a well-known academy to spot and train bettors before placing them in college football programs, saw Hedley and had the first impression that countless others have.

"We had to ask him if he had convictions or had spent time inside," says Chapman. "Because if that was the case, he could not get a visa or go to America."

For years, friends and Australian teammates encouraged Hedley to explore a career in American football. And for years, curious, he had rejected this idea. His plan was to take all the money that he had saved from scaffolding and traveling in Europe and perhaps around the world.

Just before leaving, he decided at least to explore this idea.

He passed his test with Prokick, abandoned his plan for Europe, quit his job and moved from Perth to Melbourne in 2017 to begin his training. Hedley received the nickname "Breaking" from his Prokick coaches upon his arrival – an allusion to his appearance on television breaking Bad.

In the past two years, Prokick has placed more than two dozen punters and punters in Division I schools. Some of these alumni have since graduated from the NFL. And Chapman could see right away that Hedley had the ability and drive to go that way. But his academic situation has complicated things.

"It was going to be easy from the point of view of capabilities," Chapman said. "We just hoped that he had enough money to go to college to get his grades."

Knowing the cost of the opportunity to kick the desired level, Hedley collected all the money he could. He sold his stake in his tattoo shop. And yet, having not yet managed to sneak in a live match or to fully grasp the nuances of American football, he has traveled more than 9,000 km and registered at the City. College of San Francisco.

For over ten years, CCSF offensive line coach Eduardo Nuno has recruited players from outside the country.

Born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Nuno has already held a similar position. He credits football broadcasts for helping him learn English. Several years later, after attending high school in the United States, Nuno got a scholarship from the University of the Pacific. He has seen how football can change lives.

And he was in the airport parking lot, waiting to pick up Hedley from San Francisco International Airport. But Hedley was not there. By passing through the customs, Hedley had been ruled out for a narrower secondary inspection – "because of all the tattoos," says Nuno.

Eventually, Hedley went through the airport. But once he did, he hardly had time to acclimate to his new life. It was less than a month before the team's first game and Hedley should learn the rules and pace of his new sport on the fly.

To save money, Hedley lived in a four-bedroom house with 11 roommates, including John Berard, who became his roommate and close friend, as well as his snapper at CCSF.

"He's just a new breed of punters." I knew it as soon as he jumped off the plane after a week of training, Berard said. "He arrived with his short shorts, his Australian style and his tattoos to his head with a ring in his nose."

"He really did not really know anything about football except to attack and you had skates."

The winds were a massive adjustment for Hedley, which had an early impact on his performance. He still managed to maintain an average of nearly 40 yards per kickoff in his first season, but he rarely had the opportunity to put forward a leg that could propel the ball up 60 yards. .

Despite less audacious statistics, college coaches flocked to see him. One of these visits had a direct impact not on Hedley but on Berard. He has attracted the attention of Texas Tech and is now enrolled.

Hedley redshirts her second year at CCSF to save a year of eligibility and focus on academics. Returning to class after almost a decade of absence was an early fit, but he eventually earned a GPA well above 3.0.

He also became obsessed with the weight room during his sophomore year, far from football. Already tall and muscular, Hedley worked three hours a day. His strength was so unusual that he began working alongside offensive linemen.

Photo courtesy of Louis Hedley

The combination of targeted bodybuilding and a good dose of American food – his favorite being the Wingstop – has brought Hedley to nearly 250 pounds.

After garnering interest from several Power Five programs, Hedley signed with Miami on Feb. 6. A few hours later, his face and tattooed and oversized body were ubiquitous.

"I thought we were just scratching the surface of what he could do because, God, is he physically special," says Nuno. "I think his best football is still good in front of him."

Hedley is back in Australia at the moment. He went from 250 pounds to a lean 233 pounds but still powerful. Since returning home, he has been working with Prokick, always trying to absorb as much information as possible.

He also appreciates his 1-year-old son, Loki, who has changed his vision of life. Although he decided to continue his studies and American football before the birth of Loki, fatherhood has only increased his enthusiasm.

"All I do is for this boy," says Hedley. "It allows me to get up every morning, it's a huge motivation for me and I hope that someday I can maybe reach my goal and that it will be able to watch it do it. "

When he arrives in Miami at the end of May, he will have to adapt to a new routine again. The attractiveness of South Beach and a historic football program trying to get together undeniably played a role in Hedley's decision. Just like the fact that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson played for the Hurricanes – an icon of his childhood.

Hedley's second viral fight occurred in early April, when he announced that he was wearing the number 94 in Johnson's honor. The Rock responded by showing Hedley's love to his over 13 million followers on Twitter.

"Rock was my growing hero," says Hedley. "Thinking that he knows who I am now is really cool – I only hope I can meet him someday."

With all the attention that he has received, the question now is how Hedley will perform on a single stage. Physically, he will be one of the country's most impressive bettors – if not one of the most athletic of all time – but he still has a lot to learn.

"He has one leg in the NFL, so that's really what Miami decides to do with him," Chapman said. "But bigger than that, here is a guy who spent two and a half years doing everything to spend a lot of money doing it – so much so that if it did not work, he would be out on his ass.

It is a trip that no one could have predicted. When this colossal Australian tattooist takes South Beach, the CAC and America in assault, it will have been worth it every time it is to move up a gear.