What a way to start your career in American football. Not just the NFL — when Charlie Smyth took the field on Saturday night to attempt a 37-yard field goal for the win, he did so on his first kick in the American game. The rookie from Northern Ireland joined the New Orleans Saints through the NFL’s International Player Program this offseason, and he’s been turning heads all summer.
That included during pregame warmups. Smyth booted two tries from distances of 60-plus yards, then watched Blake Grupe go to work for three quarters. When his turn finally came, it was in the game’s final seconds, with the Saints trailing by a single point. And his coaches had full confidence in him in that moment.
“We would’ve kicked it from, I don’t know, sixty. You know? Depending on how much time was left in the game and whether I thought the down and distance was, what we thought the percentages was. So it’s a little bit of a hypothetical,” Allen mused in his postgame press conference.
At about the same time, the Irish rock band U2’s hit single “With You or Without You” could be heard echoing from the celebratory Saints locker room, per Nola.com’s Luke Johnson. Allen continued: “But I felt good about him hitting the distance. Wasn’t worried about that at all. And I thought that was awesome. First kick in not an NFL game a football game, in an American football game. For him to knock it through like that in a pressure situation, that was cool to see.”
That’s not to say Smyth has won the job just yet. He needs to keep up the good work and harness the power in his leg (he pushed a few warmup kicks wide to the right, as has happened at training camp practices) and improve his placement on kickoffs. He’s sent too many of those out of the field of play. But he may just need more experience. You don’t see many players with his raw talent. His status in the IPP has bought some time to better learn the sport, but Smyth just might end up pushing the envelope.
