Whenever a foreign player breaks into the ranks of the NFL, it never fails to raise the attention of American football to a wider audience. The most recent example of this is former Gloucester and Wales rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit, who made his debut for the Kansas City Chiefs in August.
While he’s flying the flag for Wales, Ireland’s Daniel Whelan is an already-established player of the NFL and is looking for a big upcoming sophomore season in 2024. The Irish kicker could be one of two on show in the league this season, with Charlie Smyth also knocking on the door, so make sure to follow along with Tonybet so you don’t miss a beat!
As the Irish presence in American football comes into the spotlight more and more, what impact will these players have on the NFL?
Irish kickers taking over the NFL
In 2023, Daniel Whelan became the 11th Irish-born player to appear in the NFL. It was the first time since 1985 that a player from the Emerald Isle had broken through into the league, which is no easy thing to do given the competitive clamouring for places on a roster.
Whelan is a kicker for former Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers. He became the first Irish-born player to appear in the NFL since Neil O’Donoghue, who last played in 1985 and who was also a kicker. Now there is Charlie Smyth, who signed with the New Orleans Saints this year and is another Irish kicker on the scene.
In the context of the overall number of foreign players who actually get to appear in the NFL, the rise of Irish kickers is noticeable. Whelan and potentially Smyth are standing on the shoulders of Irish groundbreakers such as Bob Nash, Adrian Young and O’Donoghue, who all had at least five years in the league. Granted, it is not quite at the level of the Irish taking over, but they seem to be kicking down the door.
The growing Irish presence in the NFL
Interestingly, looking back at the history of Irish players in the NFL, before O’Donoghue, none of them had played a kicking role. So, this makes the current trend of each of the last three Irish NFL players (including Smyth, who is hoping for a regular season NFL debut in the autumn) being kickers fascinating.
Kicking ability looks like a reasonable entryway into the NFL for Irish players. It is worth taking a look back at the paths that the recent trio took to get signed with a franchise. It’s a good marker for how times are changing and opportunities are growing, but it also highlights some common threads back to the GAA.
Neil O’Donoghue
Born in Dublin, Neil O’Donoghue was an NFL placekicker. He was a former Gaelic football player and holds the record for being the tallest kicker to ever play in the NFL, at 6 ‘6”. O’Donoghue moved to the US on a soccer scholarship, but after a college transfer, he took up American football, despite having had limited exposure to the sport. He was then drafted in 1977 and went on to have a long spell with the Green Bay Packers before retiring in 1985 with less than a 60% field goal success rate.
Daniel Whelan
Daniel Whelan, who is, incidentally, one inch shorter than O’Donoghue, played tennis and rugby in his home country, but had the advantage of growing up around American football. The Wicklow-born Whelan moved to the US as a 13-year-old and he had his first taste of American football in his junior year of High School.
So, there was a strong background there already, but it still takes a lot to get to the top. Whelan made his debut for the Packers last year, a game in which he delivered five punts, the longest of which travelled a mammoth 68 yards from his own 32 to the opposition’s end zone.
In total, Whelan made 17 appearances in NFL 2023, completing 57 punts for a total of 2,634 yards, and that 68-yard punt on his debut was the longest of his season.
Charlie Smyth
Charlie Smyth’s path to the NFL is even more intriguing. Having honed his skills through free kicks and striking the ball through the uprights in Gaelic football, his accuracy and power are skills that are directly translatable over to the NFL.
His presence in the league could signal the GAA being the next big source of international American football talent, as he was actually one of three GAA players who tried out in the 2024 NFL Combine back in March, along with Rory Beggan and Mark Jackson.
The Combine is a make-or-break point to try to reach the NFL for players on the International Player Pathway Program (IPP). It’s a place where speed and ability among other things are tested, and it helps the onlooking scouts pick out the best of what is there. It’s a big moment in a player’s development when they can be approached by a team.
Beggan and Jackson didn’t get any further on their respective journeys, but Smyth impressed with his kicking ability. During the all-important pro-day, he landed an 80% field goal accuracy, including one sailing over the bar from 60 yards. His overall performance at the Combine earned him an offer from the New Orleans Saints.
The IPP will open further doors to players and could lead to more active recruitment of Irish players. Seeing three make it as far as the Combine this year was huge, and now suddenly, after a void of Irish players since 1985, there are two very good professional kickers on the scene.
What will Irish kickers bring to the NFL?
Having a high skillset in an area of expertise is obviously required to make it to the top of the NFL. Places are limited, and it’s even tougher for those not brought up in the US sports scene. Many of the players heading into the IPP are at a disadvantage against those who have been raised in the US collegiate system.
Players crossing over from the likes of rugby and Gaelic football get only a very short period, including the Combine and pre-season, to try to force their way onto a roster. This lack of experience of playing American football can be a hindrance, especially when competing for a position against someone who has experience of the sport under their belt.
There are also a small number of places on the IPP to start with. However, in particular, Gaelic football players have some skills that should naturally interest NFL scouts. GAA goalkeepers, for example, are specifically trained to deliver accurate long balls from the kick-out, especially modern goalkeepers who have the ability to spray the ball around from the back. With new NFL kick-off rules being tested for the 2024 season, accuracy in landing a ball in a prime zone takes on even more importance.
From an attacking perspective, there is also greater importance placed on kicking goals, an area in which Charlie Smyth is phenomenal. He has the innate ability to crack the ball between the sticks from a great distance, and was seen during a pre-season warm-up firing over a 66-yard field goal. His kicking strength and ability come from his Gaelic football background, as he was a primary free-kick taker for Ulster Under-20s and County Down.
The sheer fitness, physicality and strength required to play in the NFL also has to be there, and this is something else that players in the GAA have in their locker, though the NFL does feature more sudden bursts of energy compared with the endurance-based Gaelic football.
The importance of the IPP
In terms of the entry for future Irish players, it is unlikely to happen without the important IPP. The plan was developed from an older system, and is essentially a 10-week boot camp to get players ready for the NFL.
It was designed to broaden diversity and give international players from other sporting backgrounds a shot at reaching the NFL. There is no guarantee that anyone who makes the transition to the IPP and completes the course will get picked up by a team, though all franchises do have an extra spot on their roster specifically reserved for an IPP player.
So, it is a viable way into North America’s biggest sporting league. The advantage for the NFL is that having more players from different countries will be a self-serving boost of marketing interest, so the league can expand. This is on top of NFL games being played in countries around the world, such as the UK, Germany and Mexico.
The IPP has helped with nationality diversity in the NFL, but non-Americans in the league still make up a small minority of players. However, at least trailblazers such as Smyth show that it can be done.
Can Irish talent change the NFL forever?
In the modern NFL era, Whelan and Smyth are new pioneers as just the 11th and 12th Irish-born players to make the grade. It is no mean feat that they have pulled off. It’s too small of a number percentage-wise to be as impactful as changing the scene of the NFL forever. Nonetheless, it is inspirational for anyone tuning in to see a couple of Irish lads suiting up on the day and getting in the thick of the action.
This is the pipeline for the future, and Ireland is increasingly becoming a popular market for the NFL, with the likes of the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers launching their brands in the country. The media will follow the monumental breakthroughs, which will help in getting the stories out to youngsters who dream of one day making it to the NFL, just as Smyth did.
Granted, kickers seldom have the same impact or headline-grabbing superstar factor that quarterbacks and running backs have in the NFL. However, they are crucial to the game and, now and again, the spotlight does fall upon them.
Maybe it’s a field goal attempt by Whelan with the last play of the match to try to reach the NFL Playoffs, or Smyth landing an accurate kick-off in the dying seconds of a fixture to try to defend a lead – every so often, kickers are the last-minute heroes.
Follow the NFL at Tonybet
There’s plenty to look forward to from an Irish perspective in the upcoming NFL season. If you’re following the trajectories of Daniel Whelan and Charlie Smyth and their influence on the results of their respective teams, then stick with Tonybet.
We have all the latest player prop bets for matches, so you can target the specific performances of individuals, such as kicking yards, field goals and more. This is alongside all the popular markets from match results to total points and handicap spreads on the outcome of fixtures.
There’s even more to explore in long-term forecasts on Division, Conference and Super Bowl winners. Will there be an Irish player to root for in the postseason?
