There are many questions that come to mind when talking to Ndavyah Williams, and that is after you get over the surprise of discovering that a Bermudian has been selected to play American Football for Israel.

On the face of it, that is less of a shock than finding out that Williams has returned to the land of his birth to join the Army, by choice rather than by requirement.

One of the world’s hot spots when it comes to armed conflict, the Middle East is not a place many people would opt to start their adult lives, but Williams has always been driven to serve and was identified early by teachers in Bermuda as “a leader with his own level of self-discipline.”

The former CedarBridge Academy student was a sergeant in the Cadet Corps, an active participant in the Beyond Rugby programme, and played rugby for Bermuda at under-16 and under-19 level. He would have played for the national senior team too had he stayed, however, duty called.

Which brings us to Israel, Haifa Underdogs, and the Israel Football League.

Williams’s wait to join the Army has now stretched into its ninth month, and early on he looked for something to fill the hours as he waited to begin his career.

A move from the family home in the southern Israel city of Dimona, where father Dallas Roberts who is known as Naaman Ben Yeriel lives, to the northern city of Haifa gave him something to do to fill that time.

“I was looking for rugby and I couldn’t find it at the level that I wanted to play, and so I found [American] football,” he said.

A hooker at youth level in Bermuda, Williams played on the wing for club side Renegades and with his size and speed many on the Island considered him to be a flanker in the making.

In football those abilities have translated into running back, even if it took him time to get used to playing in pads and a helmet.

“It’s a big change, but it opened my eyes to the different sport,” Williams said. “The first training I did in pads I was literally dying. I was in pads and a helmet, it was harder as you’re carrying more weight.

“There has always been that conflict between rugby and football, pads and no pads, but it has come much easier for me because I love contact.”

By Williams’s own admission he knew nothing about the game, but his talent, while raw, was obvious for all to see and when he was given a chance to play he grabbed it with both hands, setting records as he went.

“I was the third-string running back, but I got the opportunity to play because the two starting running backs got injured,” he said. “They put me in, brand new to the game, still learning, and I just felt the game, and fell in love with it.”

Williams’s breakout game came against the Jerusalem Kings where he set IFL records as he ran for 243-yards and scored seven touchdowns in a blowout win.

That performance, along with his displays in a 2014 season where Haifa finished third in the 11-team league have led to a call-up to the Israel national team.

That Israel even have a national team came as something of a surprise to Williams, but he will soon be in a training camp as the side prepare to play Spain in a World Cup qualifier this summer.

“I do want to see where it [football] can take me, just for the experience, rather than just playing. It’s a different level of football from club football,” he said.

Williams has thrown himself into the sport with the same dedication as he approached rugby, but as a latecomer to American Football he is still learning the game and his position. He is going to get the chance to do a lot of learning from some of the best to have played the game this week at the Bermuda Golf Classic.

The organisers have invited Williams to take part in the charity event alongside NFL stars past and present that include running backs Fred Taylor, the former Jacksonville and potential Hall of Famer, Zack Crockett, of the Oakland Raiders, and Adrian Murrell, of the New York Jets, among others.

Williams, who arrived on the Island last night, is looking forward to seeing Linnell Williams, his mother, and friends, but when he gets to Port Royal Golf Course he has a lot of questions for players who have hundreds of years of experience between them.

“Every game I progress, but I want to know a lot of things,” Williams said. “The ability to read the game easier, to get to talk to somebody who knows my position.

“That’s what I want to do, to get some insight on how I can improve there, because I really want to improve on becoming a better running back.

“At the moment as the newcomer I just need to get even more better, to perfect it.”