Having just moved to Texas from Sydney, Solomon Thomas' parents signed him up to play football in a bid for the seven-year-old to make some friends.
Fourteen years later, the 191cm defensive lineman who tips the scales at 125kg, has been selected by San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft, a feat he describes as a dream come true.
"It was such a surreal moment to be drafted," Thomas told AAP and a press conference ahead of the NCAA College Football Championship season opener in August.
"It is the start of new dream. All the hard work is paying off but also now I have to set a new level of hard work to obtain the new goals I want to go catch."
With American football becoming increasingly popular in Australia, the 21-year-old said it is possible for any Australian to make it in American football if they push to be different.
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"Never let yourself just be mediocre," he said.
"If you want to do it you just have to go out and achieve it."
Thomas lived in Sydney for five years before moving to Texas where he made a name for himself playing high school before wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks in college football.
Thomas says he was inspired by Jarryd Hayne's brief NFL career with San Francisco.
"I was cheering for him and I just thought it was the coolest thing how he did it," he said.
"To be able to cheer him on was awesome and it motivated me even more to make it so I can inspire others."
Thomas will line-up in red and white when Stanford University take on Texas' Rice University for the College Football Sydney Cup at Allianz Stadium in August.
