The Australian market for Jarryd Hayne appears to be robust. The San Francisco 49ers running back and returner is doing brisk sales through the first two weeks of the 2015 NFL season. Darren Rovell is reporting that Hayne is the No. 5 selling jersey at NFLShop.com. Tom Brady leads the way, and he is followed by Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham, Jr., Rob Gronkowski, and then Hayne.
I believe this just covers the first two weeks of the season, but I am not certain. Whatever the case, Rovell is reporting that 70 percent of the jersey purchases have come from Australia. It will be interesting to see how that number holds up now that Hayne has seen his role diminish.
Hayne had a fantastic preseason, but the realities of the NFL have settled in. Even discounting the fumble on his first punt return attempt, special teams was going to be more difficult in the regular season. DeAndrew White got some opportunities in Week 2, but we don't really know his status for Week 3. If Bruce Ellington is active, my guess is White will be inactive. Hayne has had some decent runs through two weeks, but again, he is not getting a whole lot of work. Mike Davis emerged as the backup when Carlos Hyde left with a potential head injury last week, but maybe we see a bit more rotation between the two of them this week.