While the practice of GAA players trying their hands at Aussie Rules in order to become a professional sportsperson has become a recurring one over the years, a new and unexpected door has opened up for some inter-county stars in recent months.
The NFL was never really an avenue that had been considered in years gone by, but an opportunity has arisen for some of the finest ball striking goalkeepers in Gaelic football to try their hand at American football.
Monaghan's Rory Beggan, Down's Charlie Smyth, and Wicklow's Mark Jackson have all joined the NFL's international player pathway programme, with the view of potentially becoming kickers in the league.
In fact, that trio, along with former Connacht rugby player Darragh Leader, were even invited to take part in the NFL combine in Indianapolis over the weekend. They would show off their kicking abilities in front of scouts from all 32 teams at the event and it's fair to say that it went rather well.
READ HERE: GAA Goalkeepers Impress At NFL Combine With Accuracy And 'Mindset'
Inter-county GAA stars in line for sensational NFL move
While many may have believed that the chances of those Irish players signing an NFL contract was a very remote one, that does not seem to be the case. Each team in the league is allowed to have one designated international player as part of their practice squads for the 2024 season, opening the door for those lads to be given an opportunity.
As it turns out, some of them could now be on the brink of making that switch.
Tadhg Leader has been at the forefront of Irish sports stars trying their hand at kicking in American football, going on to train that quartet ahead of the combine.
Speaking to RTÉ, he said that it is looking increasingly likely that at least a couple of them will sign actual NFL contracts over the coming weeks having impressed a number of the teams with their displays.
The general consensus was 'Wow, you guys are competing against the best of the best, you didn't look out of place on that field'.
A couple of NFL teams came over to me pretty quickly afterwards and said 'We're quite interested in your guys'.
So initially the plan was to fly them back to Ireland tomorrow but as a result of all the interest we got, we decided we're going to keep them down in Florida for another three weeks because the expectation is teams are going to fly them into their facilities for medicals, for interviews, for workouts.
So, pretty mad thing to say, but I think a couple of the lads are going to be getting signed to contracts in the next two to six weeks. Potentially sooner but that's the usual timeline for these things. Very real, it's gotten very real.
Talking about lads from Monaghan, Down, Wicklow and Galway dealing directly with NFL teams is mad.
Rory Beggan looked extremely composed, Charlie Smyth and Mark took a kick or two to find their rhythm but once they found it, they hit really impressive kicks, which again was articulated by the NFL staff to me.
Judging by those comments, it sounds as though at least a couple of inter-county GAA stars are about to make their switch to American football a full-time one.
Making a practice squad for an NFL team only a few months after taking up the sport would be an astounding achievement, with it looking increasingly likely that we will have another Irishman alongside Enniskerry's Daniel Whelan in the league over the next couple of seasons.
Having two Wicklow men in the NFL would certainly make the county Ireland's American football stronghold.
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