EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) – Willkommen to the NFL, Moritz Boehringer.
The Minnesota Vikings made the 22-year-old German wide receiver the first player in league history to be drafted straight from Europe, taking the speedy Boehringer in the sixth round Saturday with the 180th overall selection.
The 6-foot-4, 229-pound Boehringer put on a head-turning performance in March at Florida Atlantic’s pro workout day, running the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds. Only three wide receivers at the league’s scouting combine in February ran faster than the native of Aalen, Germany.
Boehringer didn’t pick up the sport until about five years ago when he was inspired by YouTube videos he discovered of Adrian Peterson highlights with the Vikings. The former soccer player joined a junior youth team, the Crailsheim Titans, for his first season of competitive football in 2013.
“I just started learning the game by playing, so the first year was really difficult,” Boehringer said on a conference call with Minnesota reporters. “I really had no idea what I was doing.”