Charlie Smyth is not taking anything for granted in the cut-throat world as an NFL kicker despite his remarkable rise since making his debut for the New Orleans Saints.
When Smyth spoke to The Irish Times in September, the starter Blake Grupe was considered a reliable kicker, his position not immediately under threat. Bad results for the Saints and a few mistakes from Grupe and he was released after two years with the franchise. Up stepped Smyth, who landed a field goal against the Miami Dolphins and converted a rare onside kick in an eye-catching debut.
Soon afterwards, the Saints went on a four-game winning streak and Smyth continued to impress with 12 field goals made at a 75 per cent rate and 100 per cent in extra points made, while a longest field goal of 57 yards showed his power.
The highlight came against the Carolina Panthers when he made a 47-yard winning field goal with only six seconds left. It was no surprise when he was offered a three-year contract, which according to spotrac.com is worth $2.97 million, with an average annual salary of $988,333. But the Co Down native says that contract is not secure.
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“In most sports, if you sign a contract, if they fire you they have to pay out your salary,” Smyth says. “None of my contract is guaranteed, I’ve had two of those contracts before, they didn’t last. I’m not getting too ahead of myself with it. I know people at home might see it and think he’s set now, but the reality is there is no guaranteed money in it, they can get rid of you if you’re not performing.
“But I’m not too worried about that, I’m focused on doing my thing and trusting good things are going to happen.”
With more money from his latest contract, Smyth bought a new car, a Chevrolet Equinox, but he says he has not got the life-changing money yet. If he keeps his current trajectory and gets another full season under his belt, that might change.
“If you get a second contract, you can get some guaranteed money, the signing bonus, that’s where the life-changing money would come in.”
Smyth was unwavering in his belief that he would make it in the NFL before he got his opportunity and still holds that self-belief.
“I have the mindset of if I don’t take advantage of this, I will regret it for the rest of my life. In order to be able to do that, you really have to believe in yourself. To go out on the field with confidence, not shying away from the moment. I feel I’ve done a good job of believing in myself.
“I think it’s a mixture of things, speaking things into existence, trusting that you’re doing the right thing. When I’d go to camps in the summer, I went with nine or 10 other NFL guys and I won it. These guys were starters in the league and I showed I could compete with the best of them.”
Smyth is determined to still work on his game after not a “perfect season” but says he is taking positives from the fact that when the big moments came he showed he could handle it, particularly fourth-quarter kicks. The big focus for him now is resting up as the kicking “really takes a toll on your hips and quad” and resetting as the 18-week season is “very taxing mentally”.
Smyth’s feet appear to still firmly be on the ground, despite the upturn in fortunes since joining the NFL from being a Gaelic football goalkeeper, through the International Player Pathway Program in January 2024. The 24-year-old says being back in Mayobridge will “take you down a peg or two and that’s what I want” and he visited Mayobridge Primary School last week, where his mother teaches.
He was on The Late Late Show last Friday with Patrick Kielty and on Thursday he is made a surprise visit to the children of St Marnock’s National School in Portmarnock, where the Flag Football team from the school will represent Ireland in the International Championship being held at the Pro Bowl Games in San Francisco at the start of February.
It is part of the legacy of the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park last September. Flag Football now has more than 4,500 participants in 60 schools across the country and St Marnock’s will be the third Irish team to compete at an NFL Flag International Event.
There is no danger yet of Smyth losing his Down accent with an American twang, “well”, “sure look” and “that’s the craic” are very much still part of his vocabulary.
“I’m in the corner of the locker room with Taysom Hill, he just can’t understand me at all,” he says.
But Smyth is popular in the dressingroom by all accounts and he says he has focused heavily on his behaviour when in the US.
“It’s not just about kicking, it’s about being a good person too, being somebody people want to be around,” he says. “I feel like I’ve done a good job of that this past couple of years, just being myself, being polite and having good manners, and treating everyone in the building the right way. That stuff really matters, you might not think it does.”
