‘Interest in the Irish guys started straight after interviews’ – confidence grows that GAA stars can earn NFL contracts
Three Gaelic games goalkeepers, Charlie Smyth, Mark Jackson and Rory Beggan, tried out at the NFL Combine.
The opportunity for Irishmen Rory Beggan, Mark Jackson, Charlie Smyth and Darragh Leader to go from relative unknowns to hot topics in NFL circles was what made last week’s Scouting Combine so crucial for their hopes of playing in the league. And based on reports from the Irish camp, their stars have risen.
Earlier, kicking coach Tadhg Leader expressed his confidence that GAA goalkeeping trio Beggan, Jackson and Smyth will soon be signed by NFL franchises, saying that “A couple of NFL teams came over to me pretty quickly afterwards and said: 'We're quite interested in your guys'”.
And according to Conor Mangan, who accompanied the group in Indianapolis and broadcast their drills on Instagram to thousands of viewers, the ability of the Irish athletes to project confidence has really caught NFL eyes.
Today's Sport News in 90 Seconds - 6th March
“The scouts seemed pushed about the Irish group, they sat forward and paid attention,” said Mangan, a Cork native who has built a kicking career in America, now playing with Philadelphia Soul in the Arena Football League.
“The scouts sitting around me in the stadium or on the field with the lads were taking a lot of notes when the Irish boys were kicking. You know an NFL coach isn’t too pushed when they are slouched with their arms crossed, but by the time the lads were kicking from 50+ yards people were sitting forward. I’d take that as a good sign.
“Coaches from the Cowboys, Eagles and Ravens were taking a particularly close look throughout. And the interest in the Irish guys started straight after the interviews. I don’t think the coaches realised who these guys were until they walked into the room, so their personalities shone through there.”
All the Irish in action performed well when up against American college competition, but at 22 years of age, the composure of Down man Smyth, who hit 12 of 16 attempts taken at various distances, stood out to some observers. But few who knew him were surprised at how well he performed, and it seems that young ambition has rubbed off well on NFL scouts.
“The only people surprised by Charlie were the people back home,” said Mangan. “The teams liked him as well during interviews. He obviously has a thick accent, but he was very natural, very composed when talking. That’s one thing about all the Irish lads, none of them sounded scripted in their answers like some of the college guys. Everything was natural and was what you wanted to see from high-performance athletes.
“And then Charlie went out and hit great kicks. We knew what he was capable of in Florida because he kept getting better and better. So when NFL teams read that he is 22 and they see that rhythm, that progression, that composure, harnessing his own ability and psyche - it really stands out.”
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In addition to the three Gaelic goalkeepers performing in kicking drills, former Connacht full-back Darragh Leader was trying out to be a punter, but a strain kept him out of drills on Monday. However, his natural ability as a holder for field goal attempts - a common duty for punters - was clear, and he will have another chance to impress NFL scouts this month.
“He should have a chance at a pro day in Florida on March 20th, probably the same one as the other IPP (International Player Pathway) guys, like Louis Rees-Zammit (Welsh rugby player).
“But special teams coaches I spoke to were really impressed during interviews, so they suggested they should just wait until he is 100 per cent instead of being at 80 or 90 per cent.
“But he held extremely well. He had to deal with a lot of inaccurate snaps - two balls from the long snapper bounced off the floor, which would get you fired off in the NFL. But Darragh dealt with those extremely well. He is a naturally gifted holder, he has really good hands.”
The upshot of the Irish performance is that the quartet will not fly back to Ireland as originally planned, with Tadhg Leader confirming that, due to the level of NFL interest, the players will remain in Florida for the next three weeks to continue their training, with the coach adding that “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,” Leader added.
