The Ingolstadt Dukes, 2017 German Football League quarterfinalists, added to their offensive arsenal by signing Belgian national team wide receiver Ruben de Ruyter for the 2018 season.
The 6’1″, 207 lb, 23 year old de Ruyter is entering his fifth season of football in Europe. He helped the Hämeenlinna Huskies in Finland’s Maple League reach the semifinals in 2017, in their first year in the league. He had 34 catches for 568 yards and five touchdowns for the Huskies. In 2016, he won a Swedish title with the Carlstad Crusaders as the first Belgian to ever play for the eight-time Swedish champions. He has been a mainstay on Team Belgium, the Belgian Barbarians since 2014 and one of the key receivers.
He played his first season of football in 2014 with the Ghent Gators helping them with their first Belgian championship. He was quickly selected for the national team and in 2015 was named one of the five team captains while appearing in five international games. He moved to Germany in 2015 as free safety and wide receiver with the Leipzig Lions of the German third division.
He is looking forward to playing in Ingolstadt:
“I felt like the Dukes are ready to take the next step, and with Eugen Haaf and Colton there super excited to come in work hard, compete, support the right atmosphere, be a team guy. But most of all show up to make plays and we’re not trying to fit in we want to stand out in a very good GFL south this year.”
The Dukes finished their first season in Germany’s top league in 2017 with a 7-7 record. The team boasted the seventh best offense in the country and the fourth leading passing offense.
Check out Ruben’s highlights from the 2017 season with the Hämeenlinna Huskies
Ruben’s 2016 highlights with Sweden’s Carlstad Crusaders
Interested in playing American football overseas?
Register on Europlayers.com.
Europlayers is the largest online database of American football players, teams and coaches. It is a connector, bringing together and introducing athletes to overseas teams. On the site you can begin researching teams around the world. Once you create a profile, you become searchable by hundreds of American football clubs around the world.