County Down man Charlie Smyth has signed a new contract with the New Orleans Saints which guarantees him at least another off-season with the team as he attempts to forge a kicking career in the NFL.
Smyth, 23, has agreed a two-year deal which will keep him under contract for that duration if he makes the Saints’ 53-man roster next August.
The former Down gaelic footballer missed out on the active roster five months ago but did secure a place in the Saints’ practice squad which kept alive his NFL ambitions.
“Right now all it guarantees me is that I’ve got another off-season with the Saints and hopefully this time I can make the 53,” Smyth told BBC Sport NI.
“I’ve got a whole lot better since I started this with the Saints and I feel that there’s a reason why they want me back. Let’s just roll with it and keep making kicks.”
Smyth’s first contract last March
Smyth secured his first Saints contract last March after impressing in the NFL Combine, which was a series of trials for aspiring American Footballers.
As an Ulster Under-20 Championship winner with Down in 2021, Smyth had a bright goalkeeping future in Gaelic football, the sport he had played his entire life.
However, after deciding to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL, he started to train with Tadhg Leader, a kicking coach for the NFL international player pathway (IPP) programme.
Along with Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan, Wicklow’s Mark Jackson and former Connacht rugby player Darragh Leader, Smyth attended the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Having impressed at the Combine and at pro-day trials, Smyth was invited to the Saints’ training facility before signing a contract.
While he later missed out on a place in the Saints’ roster, practice squad members remain on the books of their original teams in a pool of players that will continue to train and are on hand should injuries occur.
“If you don’t make the 53, that contract is terminated,” said Smyth of his latest deal.
“That’s just the nature of the business but right now I’m just delighted to have signed on and all I know is that I’m going to get another off-season with the Saints to show them what I can do.
“There’s no practice squad or active roster. Everyone in the 90-man squad is the same so I’ve got another off-season to prove myself. We’ll see what happens.”
Smyth knows full well that he faces a huge task in displacing current kicker Blake Grupe who had an impressive campaign with the Saints.
“You have to give credit to Blake. He had a really good year but the fact they want me back gives me great confidence that I’m doing something right,” continued the 23-year-old.
Sister was close to scene of attack
Smyth is now looking forward to travelling home on an extended break to see his family again after they visited him in New Orleans over the Christmas period.
He revealed that his younger sister had been been in close proximity to the location of the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 people after 42-year-old US Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pick-up truck into crowds in the city’s French Quarter.
“My younger sister was out and she met up with some people from Armagh who were in town,” added Smyth, who himself went to bed early on New Year’s Eve.
“I woke up to a load of texts saying ‘are you all OK?’
“Then I was chatting to my sister and she said she was just around the corner [from where the attack took place]. The car would have driven past her when she was out on the main street. Whenever I found that out, it actually shook me quite a lot.”
