Charlie Smyth (born 26 June 2001) is an Irish professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He has previously played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

at senior level for the Down county team, before joining the NFL's

International Player Pathway Program International Player Pathway (IPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of players from outside the United States or Canada in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strategy to grow globally ...

(IPPP) in 2024.

Gaelic football career

Smyth began playing

when he was four years old. He first came to prominence as the goalkeeper for Down's Ulster Under-20 Championship winning team in 2020, scoring in every game of the campaign that ended at the All-Ireland semi-final stage. In 2021, Smyth was the goalkeeper on the Down winning team to lift the Ulster Under-20 title, their first since 2009. He was one of three players from Down who received honours in the EirGrid All-Ireland Under-20 football awards that year. In 2023, he made his debut on the

Down county football team The Down county football team represents Down GAA, the County board (Gaelic games), county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic games, Gaelic sport of Gaelic football, football. The team competes in three major annual inter-c ...

and was a

Tailteann Cup The Tailteann Cup is a Gaelic football competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams, which, in the given year, have not otherwise qualified for the All-Ireland ...

runner-up with Down.

American football career

In January 2024, Smyth began training to play in the

(NFL) via the

. He participated in the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

where he connected on 12 of 16 field goal attempts. At his pro-day, he made 8 of 10 field goals, including one from 60 yards. On 29 March 2024, he signed a three-year contract with the

, becoming the first GAA player to sign an NFL contract. Smyth had sent an email to the NFL in July 2019 asking for a tryout hoping to see if his Gaelic football skills could transfer to the NFL. He was waived on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. Smyth signed a reserve/future contract with the Saints on January 6, 2025.

Personal life

Smyth is a native of

Mayobridge Mayobridge () is a village within County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the small river Clanrye, which divides the townlands of Mayo and Bavan, east of Newry. It had a population of 1,069 as at 2011. Administratively, it is within the Newry a ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

. He attended St Colman's College. Smyth studied at St Mary's University College, where he was completing a master's degree in physical education. Prior to that, Smyth had trained as a primary school teacher with

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

and was ready to teach while also playing GAA with his club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Charlie Living people 2001 births Gaelic football goalkeepers Down inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Mayobridge Gaelic footballers People from Newry Sportspeople from County Down New Orleans Saints players American football placekickers International Player Pathway participants Northern Irish players of American football Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States