For the first time since Antonio Pierce’s last season as a linebacker with the New York Giants, the NFL will have a Bermuda flavour to it, with Denver Broncos signing a 28-year-old punter born on the Island.

Karl Schmitz, who was born in Bermuda before moving to the United States where he played for Jacksonville University before transferring to the University of Missouri-St Louis, has been signed by the Broncos as a long-range, long-shot free agent.

Overlooked in the NFL’s first week of free agency, the Broncos picked up the 6ft 4in, 215-pound punter whose signing is interesting on various levels.

As The Denver Post noted, Schmitz has gone nearly seven years without playing a football game, after turning out for Jacksonville University in 2008, where he handled both punts and kickoffs.

After playing for Jacksonville, Schmitz transferred to the University of Missouri-St Louis. He graduated with a business degree in 2011 as his sport took a backseat.

After graduating, Schmitz returned to Jacksonville to try to get back into the game and land a spot on an NFL roster.

He started working with former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Mike Hollis at ProForm Kicking, with whom he spent nearly all of his free time perfecting his form and waiting to realise his dream.

Over the last few years, Schmitz has attended combines hoping to win over a professional team.

He even posted highlights of himself on YouTube in a bid to get his name out there, working for his dad Frank at Barcelona Tapas restaurant in St Louis and Indianapolis while waiting for his break.

Pierce, whose father Cleo Burrows is Bermudian, won the Super Bowl with the Giants in 2008.