FROHOLDT: STORM ROLE CENTRAL TO GROWING GAME
Over recent seasons, Hjalte Froholdt has established himself as a key player in the NFL, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots and now looks to invest his time and experience in growing the game in his native Denmark.
Back in November, Froholdt — Denmark’s only current NFL player — was presented as a co-owner and ambassador of the Nordic Storm, the latest addition to the European League of Football. Now he hopes that his profile, massive both physically and figuratively, will help raise awareness and involvement in American football in the wider Nordic region, having seen the club where he started playing — the Svendborg Admirals — have to close due to a lack of members.
“This project gives football an opportunity to become bigger in the clubs and in the less populated parts of Denmark, where my club, Svendborg Admirals, unfortunately had to close because there were not enough players who wanted to play football,” the Arizona Cardinals center said. “By jumping on this project, it is something that I hope will generate some interest in football — not only in Denmark but in the entire Nordic region.”
Since moving to the Cardinals in 2022, the ‘Danish Desert Viking’ has enjoyed tremendous success, and his hard work was rewarded last year with a two-year contract worth $12m. Now Froholdt believes that it is time to help the sport reach new heights in his home country through the ambitious Storm organsiation, which straddles both Denmark and Sweden.
“Developing American football in the Nordics is something I want to be a part of more than I have done in the last few years,” Froholdt admitted. “And I think the opportunity is here with the Nordic Storm leading the way with me as part of it.
“Now I can come home and be a participant at some of the games and hopefully do some events here in the coming years, and of course help to make football bigger in the Nordics. I hope the Storm becomes a catalyst for football in the Nordics and that it’s something where all boys no longer think it’s the NFL or bust. Now you can also play professional football at home.”
Even if the driving factor for Froholdt is the development of the sport, however, he still hopes to see the Storm succeed on the field as well.
“In five years, I hope we will have won some championships, won some
matches and established ourselves in the European League of Football,” he concluded.
Nordic Storm will play their first ELF game on May 18th against the Helvetic Mercenaries in Switzerland, while the first home game takes place June 1st at Gladsaxe Stadium against the Berlin Thunder.
