NFL: Christian Wade on his 'dream' touchdown for Buffalo Bills and trying to make the cut

In his first BBC Sport column, former Wasps and England rugby union player Christian Wade talks about life trying to crack the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. He has one more chance to impress in the Bills' last pre-season game this week - before their 2019 roster is named.

After working so hard to learn a new sport, what happened in my first game of American football was like a dream come true.

I only found out the day before that I'd feature in the third or fourth quarter, and to do that with my very first carry - run for 65 yards and score a touchdown - was amazing. It couldn't have happened in a better way.

Getting the call from the Bills was a life-changing moment but that touchdown is something I'll cherish forever. It's probably the best memory in my life.

I did it in a fairly unorthodox way though. Initially I held the ball correctly but then I went to taking it like a rugby ball, so I kind of got in trouble for that!

I've still got lots to learn; there's a long way to go. It's been a grind so far but a moment like that showed me that all the hard work is paying off and I'm heading in the right direction. It motivates me to keep pushing and keep working hard.

Since then the media attention has been crazy. After the game all the reporters were in the locker room, which was something I'd never experienced, but that was awesome.

Everyone's been shocked and surprised - they can't believe it. They're excited I've come over and achieved what I have so early on. I was fairly surprised with how my team-mates celebrated too. We're like a big family, even though we're all competing for jobs.

Everyone's been very welcoming, especially the guys in the running back room, which includes two future Hall of Famers in Frank Gore and LeSean 'Shady' McCoy.

But I get teased a lot because of my accent and using English words like "boots" when they say "cleats", or "pitch" when they say "field". It makes everyone laugh.

The Bills have a new training facility and it has everything you can think of - ice baths, saunas, steam rooms, sleeping pods, swimming pools, an indoor field. In rugby you always train outside so that was like the best thing ever.

After training with NFL UK and then at the IMG Academy near Tampa, it's incredible to now have a place to call home, to have my own locker with my name, my number and all my training kit hung up. It's been wicked.

Training is like Big Brother; everyone knows they're being watched. Every little thing you do is being graded.

Even if you're not being put in plays during team drills, someone might still ask about the last play and, if you know it, that's where you can separate yourself from other people.

There have been low moments too though.

I've already seen two friends get cut. We had a team meeting and the offensive co-ordinator told us to take five before calling my boy down. When we came back he wasn't there and after the meeting, half an hour later, we went to the locker room and his name tag was already down and all his kit was gone.

I'd been training with another guy for four weeks. We were tight. He was with us all day then we started a meeting and he wasn't there. Eventually he knocks on the door and I'm thinking 'man, he's so late, he's gonna get in trouble'.

But he popped his head round the door and said 'I just want to say I appreciate everyone in this room, I hope you guys do well'. Then he was gone. I was like 'wow, so he's just got cut too?'

I was confused because that doesn't happen in rugby. If someone's leaving, you know about it. I had to ask what happens next and the guys told me about the free agency list and how that works. I was like 'that's wild'.

But I know that day's coming again. And this time it's going to be big cuts. After Thursday's final pre-season game, the 90-man offseason roster gets cut to 53 for the season. It's gonna be 37 dudes who, all of a sudden, are just not there. It's gonna be brutal.

It wouldn't be the end of the road if I don't make the team. I have a roster exemption so I'd stay on the practice squad and get the whole year to keep growing as a football player, then get another opportunity next year.

But I've done everything I can to make it. If I do, it'd be absolutely incredible because the support I've got back home is huge - from rugby fans, football fans, my family and friends.

There's one game left and I'll make sure I leave it all out there.

Christian Wade was speaking to BBC Sport's Ben Collins.