Austrian-born Bernhard Raimann on brink of improbable NFL career

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Bernhard Raimann was 13 the first time he even saw one of those "egg-shaped balls" being tossed about in Austria but he swiftly fell for American-style football.

Once a wide receiver for the Vienna Vikings club team in Austria, Raimann made the trek to America and became a tight end for Central Michigan and finally a towering left tackle. Now, he is on the brink of an NFL career.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

The 24-year-old former foreign exchange student is at the Senior Bowl and projected as one of the top offensive tackles in the upcoming NFL draft.

It’s been a long journey — literally — and one where he had to pack on pounds for a position change. But Raimann now seems to be right where he belongs: as a 6-foot-6, 304-pound tackle with a promising football future.

"I started playing soccer as most kids in Europe do," he said. "But I was kind of getting sick of soccer. I was getting tired of it. It wasn’t physical enough for me, so I was looking for something new."

Then a 13-year-old Raimann saw some buddies throwing the ball around; the first time he said he had even seen a football.

He quickly got hooked on the sport and joined the club team in Austria on his 14th birthday, playing receiver and cornerback for the Vikings. But he didn’t want to stop there, so he headed some 4,500 miles away to Michigan as a foreign exchange student a year later.

National Team offensive lineman Cole Strange of UT-Chattanooga and offensive lineman Bernhard Raimann of Central Michigan run through drills during practice for the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

"I was