THE whole thing, says Charlie Smyth, has “just been mad”. He was midway through a Masters in Teaching at St Mary’s when the offer he couldn’t refuse was made but he will finish his studies while he devotes himself to breaking into the first team at New Orleans Saints.
Last weekend the Mayobridge native was a guest on the Late Late Show and when he appeared at a Leader Kicking camp at his alma mater St Colman’s College in Newry during the Easter Holidays he was mobbed by star-struck teenagers. This week he featured on BBC’s GAA Social...
He handles all the attention with his natural, friendly charm but during an interview that lasts roughly 15 minutes he mentions maybe a dozen times how he can’t wait to get started in the USA.
“We have a saying about ‘keeping the main thing, the main thing’,” he explains.
“The main thing is the kicking and it’s obviously nice to have all the attention at home but I am ready to park it all and get started and I’m looking forward to getting out to New Orleans and focus on kicking. I’ve a big job on my hands and I’m ready to get started with it.
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“I want to play in the NFL and I have a bit of competition to get that job. It’s not going to be easy and the other kicker, Blake Grupe, kicked in the NFL last year and he won the competition for that spot last year.
“I haven’t met him yet - I haven’t really chatted to anyone out there yet, I’ve been enjoying spending time with family and friends and training away. I’m looking forward to meeting everybody in New Orleans when I get over there. We’ll be spending a lot of time together and I’ll just be myself and hopefully I’ll get on well.
“I know it will be an adjustment but I knew that was coming if I wanted to do this. I’ve already played it out in my head how things could go and it won’t be easy at the start but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
“To get to do what I’ll be doing… Not many people have got this chance especially coming from a foreign country.
“I have to go and give it my all and if it’s not good enough, so be it, I’ll know I have given it my all. I know it won’t be easy but I have the belief in myself that I can do it, I’ve got to this stage so there’s no reason why I can’t take this step and walk through the next door.”
HE’LL be at the Mayobridge game on Friday night and he’ll go to Pairc Esler to cheer on Down in their Ulster Championship opener on Saturday. Unlike the two other kickers who tried out in the US with him – Monaghan’s Rory Beggan and Mark Jackson of Wicklow – he won’t be playing.
Their NFL chance will come, predicts the New Orleans rookie.
“I’m sure I’ll not be the only one out of this group that is picked up,” he says.
“There is an event coming up for the Steelers where Mark and Rory could be picked up and the Draft hasn’t happened yet so a lot of teams have to pick up their rosters. I was just lucky that I got the chance to sign before I came home and I just hope it happens for them.”
So why him? Beggan played in a packed Croke Park in an All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin last year. Jackson is an established first-choice county goalkeeper… Why did National Football Conference South Division outfit New Orleans Saints – who host the next Super Bowl at their 76,468-capacity Caesar’s Superdrome - pick out the Down man?
“Age was a factor maybe,” says the 22-year-old.
“If you asked any of the three kickers who is the best, I think we’d all say ourselves. Mark would, Rory would and I would. I think I showed to the teams that I’ve got a very good leg and I get good height on the ball, good pop on the ball and I can kick from big distances.
“You need to have confidence in yourself as a kicker. If you’re too modest and you don’t fully believe in yourself you’re not going to get very far because it is such a mental game – the situations you’ll be put in, games are going to be on the line whenever you’re on the field and you have to be able to lock in and block out everything else when you’re kicking that ball.
“I try and imagine myself kicking the ball at the field in Mayobridge and just focus on the controllables of that kick. I showed I could do that at the Combine in front of all 32 teams and on the Pro Day 31 of the 32 teams were represented.”
HE went along to the Mayobridge training on Monday night. The pitch was water-logged, it was freezing, the rain was pouring down…
“Thank God I’m away to New Orleans on Sunday!” he thought, but when he gets there it’s not to enjoy the sunshine.
“The first five months is competition for the starting spot,” he says.
“There’s no guarantees with my contract – if I don’t impress they don’t have to give me three years, they can just cut me. So I can’t take my eye off the ball at all or I won’t be around too long. That’s the reality of the NFL, its cutthroat. I’m ready, I’ll go out and give it my all and if that’s not good enough I’ll be at peace with that but I won’t take this opportunity for granted, you just can’t – it’s too big.”