'I’d bend him right up': NFL player's brutal backlash after bold rugby claim

NFL ace Marquette King is just one American taking note of rugby’s exposure during the shut down of US sports, but his comments about the game prompted fierce backlash.

King, a punter who represented the Oakland Raiders for six-years before signing with the Denver Broncos in 2018, is currently a free agent.

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But during the coronavirus pandemic, the 87kg punter has taken notice - like many Americans seeking their weekly fix of sport - of different footy codes.

This led to a bold prediction from the punter, who last played in the XFL.

“If I played rugby I would dominate it easily,” he said.

But he may have not expected the in-flood of invitations from rugby stars around the world after his brazen comments that he would ‘dominate’ rugby.

The All Black’s official account got in on the action.

While hulking All-Blacks forward Jerome Kaino said he would ‘love to see it’ before adding the hashtag: ‘No pads’.

South African forward Petrus du Plessis showed off the rigours of rugby with a tweet of an injury.

Fiji’s general manager of high performance invited King to come trial with some of the team’s toughest players including former Rugby League winger Semi Radradra.

Many England stars, past and present, took a dig.

King even got invitations to come trial for multiple teams, including the Seattle Seawolves rugby team.

Rugby wins over NFL in vote

King then conducted a Twitter poll, which received more than 22,000 votes, asking fans which sport had the better overall athlete.

Rugby ran out clear winners with 78.6 per cent of the votes.

He praised the spirit and passion of rugby fans from all over the world.