As all eyes on this side of the Atlantic gawked at the GAA goalkeepers impressing NFL scouts with this island’s natural kicking skills, another Irishman was quietly waiting for his opportunity.
Charlie Smyth garnered so much attention after signing a contract with the New Orleans Saints that they had him on the Late Late Show. As footballers go, Smyth was a relative unknown. He wasn’t Down’s first choice goalkeeper. An Ulster under-20 medal was his career highlight. Yet here he was turning his leg into a livelihood.
Meanwhile in New Jersey, another former Ulster under-20 winner found his own unheralded path. Jude McAtamney was part of the Derry age grade set-up in 2018. Earlier this week, he signed a contract as a kicker with the New York Giants. He will have a chance to compete for the team’s starting job in advance of next season.
Like Daniel Whelan last year with Green Bay, McAtamney is up against an experienced veteran. Last year, Giants kicker Graham Gano was plagued by injury and inaccuracy.
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McAtamney’s hometown of Swatragh is only 85 miles from Mayobridge, where Smyth played his football. Despite the similar background, the two latest Irish entrants into the NFL roster lottery could not have had a more different path to the gridiron.
Smyth signed a contract just seven months after first kicking an American football ball. His process was accelerated by the NFL’s International Player Pathway opening its doors to kickers.
In 2020, when McAtamney first contemplated a change of sport, there was no such opportunity. Instead, he saw another Irishman, Kerry native David Shanahan, earn a scholarship at Georgia Tech University. McAtamney got in touch.
“I had an interest of playing a professional sport all my life,” explains McAtamney. “GAA isn’t technically professional, that was something that annoyed me a bit. People at home have their own opinions but that was how I felt.
“I saw kickers in the NFL but I never knew there would be a path for it. Once David committed to Georgia Tech I was like ‘tell me what to do and I’ll do it’. I texted him straight away.”
“I’m a keen kicker of the ball myself,” said the text, now public information courtesy of a congratulatory tweet from Shanahan. “He sent me that before he tweeted it and I was cringing, I can’t believe I said that,” laughs McAtamney.
Shanahan connected McAtamney with his coaches at Prokick Australia, specialists in getting AFL players kicking scholarships at American colleges. He earned a scholarship at Chowan University, a Division Two programme in North Carolina. After a year, Rutgers University and Division One came calling.
In his first year kicking in New Jersey, McAtamney went 12 for 18 on field goals. The following spring, he lost his job as the starting kicker. Instead, he was only on kick-off duty. It was something, but not many NFL sides come calling for players not kicking field goals.
McAtamney gave up hope of being selected in the draft. His only opportunity to kick in front of NFL scouts was at the Rutgers pro day. The Giants and the Jets watched and invited him for further workouts.
“That was the most nerve-racking bit, I had nothing,” he explains. “I had no agent, I had no invites to workouts. It was do or die.
“Once I went to the teams, I had the attitude I had nothing to lose. No one would give me a chance, no one from home would even know I was in that process. I was like ‘F*ck it,’ I just let it rip.”
During his day with the Giants, McAtamney made all 10 of his kicks.
“One of the guys I was kicking with, he kicked at a big school for a few years, he was the starting kicker there. In the workout I was side-by-side with him and I felt like I had the upper hand.”
That lack of awareness back home prompts an obvious question. In recent years, whenever an Irish player gets within a sniff of the NFL, journalists start calling. This time around, McAtamney’s benching ensured he fell off the radar. Then Smyth’s exploits distracted us all. Did the lack of attention grate?
“I wasn’t jealous of what they were doing, but I felt snubbed in a way,” he says. “I don’t care that they were getting more attention than me, I don’t care about that, but I felt if they’re getting this opportunity, I knew if I had that I felt I could be better. I have the experience, I’ve been here longer.
“That fuelled me for the local days and the pro days, no one at home knows I’m doing this. That wasn’t the main motivating factor but I wanted to prove to myself that I can mix it with the big boys.”
As always with undrafted free agents, McAtamney has work to do to make the roster. For now, his opportunity has been earned, one which looked unlikely 12 months ago.
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