County Down’s Charlie Smyth makes history as he signs with New Orleans Saints

History-maker!

In a historic move for the twenty-two year old. During his NFL Pro Day last week in Florida, Smyth impressively made good on eight out of ten attempts, improving on his accuracy from his last tryout in Indianapolis. Later in the week, he posted a sixty plus yard field goal, which went viral online:

Earlier this month at the NFL Combine, Smyth stood out as the most precise Irish kicker, successfully making 12 out of 16 attempts and coming close to hitting a kick from sixty yards on the day. An NFL fan for years, Smyth now has the opportunity to make his own history.

The Leader Kicking and NFL IPP athlete has accepted a deal which will see him sign over the next few days. Charlie will become the first Irish player to sign with a team as part of the NFL IPP cohort.

The average kicker in the NFL earns a salary of approximately $860,000 per year, and the highest paid kicker, the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker earns $6,000,000. The terms of Smyth’s contract have not been made public yet. 

Speaking to Mark Hogan of Pro Football Ireland in January, Smyth talked about his journey from fan to kicker. "I've been a big fan of the sport for seven or eight years,” Smyth said. “I saw Tadhg Leader’s page on Twitter this past year or so and I was thinking, should I give it a go?

Smyth went on: "If you had asked me this time last year, would you be doing this? I probably would have just laughed, to be honest. But now it's here. It's unbelievable. I'm willing to give it my best shot. One thing I actually feel like I'm doing quite well at the minute is just enjoying the journey. Session by session, week by week. "I want to get better at this. I want to improve."

It’s clear that Smyth drastically improved. Even from the NFL Combine to his Pro Day mere weeks later, Smyth showed composure and added height in his kicks. The shift from moving from Mayobridge to Florida and allowing him to train on a full time basis allowed the Down man to elevate his portfolio - and now the New Orleans Saints have 

One thing for sure is - history has been made. Congratulations, Charlie.