Mayobridge Marvel: Charlie Smyth’s monster kick silences doubters on NFL debut

There were some raised eyebrows in the small village of Mayobridge in Co Down when local boy Charlie Smyth embarked on his American dream, but with one monstrous swing of his right boot on his NFL debut all doubts were kicked into oblivion.

The 24-year-old former Gaelic footballer, also a qualified Irish-speaking schoolteacher, showed “ice cold in his veins” to land a “phenomenal” 56-yard field goal at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday in the Saints’ 21-17 loss to the Dolphins.

It was Smyth’s opening act in his first regular-season game for the Saints, which he followed with one of the most accurate onside kicks of the NFL season – less than one year after joining American football’s International Player Pathway Program.

Mayobridge GAA club secretary Thomas O’Hare admitted there were initially plenty of doubters when Smyth opted to trade in a bright future in Gaelic football and a career in teaching for a punt on a professional NFL contract in early 2024.

O’Hare has known Smyth “for most of his life” and watched him develop through the Mayobridge club’s age groups.

He told the Press Association: “It’s a funny thing. When Charlie started going to these (NFL) trials, our club was in the middle of the season. He missed a game on a Sunday morning and we were all saying, ‘What the f*** is this fella doing?’

“Our village is small and Gaelic football, the club championship, is everything and I was one of those saying, ‘What is this man doing?’ No-one could really believe it.

“But what Charlie has done is surreal. It’s just crazy. I’ve followed him since he was a small child. They had a good wee local (Gaelic football) team and Charlie was always one of the star players.

Irishman Charlie Smyth's first career FG goes for