'Phenomenal' kicker Charlie Smyth pushing hard for starting spot with NFL's New Orleans Saints

Down's Charlie Smyth faces another huge weekend in his burgeoning professional American football career when the New Orleans Saints face the Tennessee Titans in their final NFL pre-season clash on Sunday.

Last year, the 23-year-old attended kicking clinics run by Tadhg Leader of Leader Kicking and impressed sufficiently to attend the NFL combine.

After being selected for the league's International Player Pathway (IPP) programme, the former Down U20 goalkeeper signed a three-year-deal with the Saints in March.

Now, the Mayobridge man is preparing for one more chance to begin the 2025 NFL season as the starting kicker for the Saints.

Blake Grupe is the incumbent Saints kicker and started the pre-season games against the Arizona Cardinals, last week, and against the San Francisco 49ers last night, making all three of his field-goal attempts so far.

But Smyth was thrust into action against the Cardinals late on and landed a field-goal of 37 yards to win the game.

Teams generally only include one kicker but, if Smyth is not selected as part of the 53-man roster on 27 August, as an IPP player he can be retained as an extra man on the practice (reserve) squad.

He will, however, be hoping to get the chance to impress once more against the Tennessee Titans in their final pre-season game on Sunday night.

IT'S GOOD!