Vikings quarterback

“Purple suits me very well”

The training jersey is red, the helmet is purple, the right color for quarterback Ben Holmes.(Bild: Hannes Jirgal/Vienna Vikings)

The Vienna Vikings have the first training sessions for the coming season in the European League of Football (ELF) under their belts. Since Saturday, the import players have also been able to train with the rest of the team. US quarterback Ben Holmes is looking forward to the upcoming tasks, the greenery in Vienna and the Vikings' colors.

"Even the approach to Vienna was great," enthuses Ben Holmes, the Vienna Vikings' new quarterback for the upcoming season in the European League of Football. The 29-year-old American has been here for two weeks. "It was quite an adjustment, I grew up in the countryside, now I take the subway to training," he says, having already got used to the big city.

He has been in contact with Max Sommer, who is not only the European champion coach of the national team but also the offensive coordinator of the Vienna ELF franchise, for six months. "We've been working on the playbook since November," reveals Sommer. "Ben is very professional, communicative and also arrived here quickly. That's not always the case with US players who are in Europe for the first time," he says, very impressed with Holmes.

Offensive Coordinator Max Sommer (picture) is looking forward to working with Ben Holmes.(Bild: Hannes Jirgal/Vienna Vikings)

He was already happy about two colors when he arrived: "The city is very green, I really like that." Ben comes from Orchard Park, the suburb of Buffalo in the state of New York where the stadium of the NFL team Buffalo Bills is located.

But Ben likes the color of the Vikings even more than all the green in the city: "Purple suits me very well, I already played in purple at college and celebrated great success. Now I want to do the same in Vienna!"