The Frankfurt Galaxy of the European League of Football (ELF) have signed former Austrian NFL running back Sandro Platzgummer for the 2024 season.
Platzgummer is coming off an injury-plagued season with the Tirol Raiders which saw him manage just 13 carries for 60 yards in four games before being sidelined with a season-ending knee injury.
When he returned last year to the Raiders, his home club, he had spent three years with the New York Giants as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program (IPP). The young Austrian made headlines across Europe in 2021 when he broke a 48-yard run in preseason against the New York Jets.
A 27 year old native of Innsbruck, Austria, the 5 ‘11, 200-pound Platzgummer was the starting running back for the Swarco Raiders for five seasons (2015-2019) in the Austrian Football League and helped lead the team to four Austrian titles in five years including a perfect season in 2019, during which the Raiders won the Austrian title and the European club championship. He was also an anchor on the Austrian national team that captured silver in the European Championships in 2018. He had been a mainstay on the Austrian U19 national team as well prior to that.
Although Platzgummer may be considered by some a little undersized, he was timed at a 4.50 in the 40-yard dash and posted a 39″ vertical, which convinced Giants running backs coach at the time, Burton Burns, of his value to the team.
If 100% healthy, Platzgummer will definitely bolster the Galaxy’s rushing attack which ranked 10th in the ELF in 2023 with a total of 1,089 yards.