FROM THE OUTSIDE looking in, the New Orleans Saints’ deployment of their two place-kickers during preseason indicated that their battle was close-run.
Last year’s starter, Blake Grupe, played the full first halves of the Saints’ three warm-up fixtures. Charlie Smyth, the Gaelic football convert who backed up Grupe in 2024, played all three second halves. Both kickers were spotless as the Saints began life under their new head coach, Kellen Moore, who last year steered the Philadelphia Eagles’ offence to a Super Bowl triumph.
Inside the Saints’ building, however, it was a different story.
NFL franchises put massive stock in their preseason training camps, which are both open to the public and documented extensively by beat writers and national media. These entail high-intensity, full-pad sessions designed to replicate in-game situations. (The vast majority of teams will also train against a rival franchise during camp, before their first preseason fixture, although the Saints were one of four sides to keep things entirely in-house this summer).
And whereas Smyth, who has the longer leg of New Orleans’ two kickers, struggled slightly for rhythm at the start of camp, the more seasoned Grupe shot the lights out: he missed just one of his 50 efforts on goal on the practice field between late July and August, and maintained that consistency throughout the Saints’ actual preseason games.
Smyth didn’t need to hear Grupe’s training camp described in passing as “historic” to know that he was going to be left disappointed for the second year running as New Orleans pared their first-team roster down to the mandated 53 players a fortnight ago.
“Ultimately, it’s… I have to take the job from him,” Smyth tells The 42. “The bottom line is that I have to make more kicks on him.
“…But if he’s not missing, like, it’s very hard, you know what I mean?” laughs the former Down goalkeeper.
“There’s just that element of, I suppose, a little bit more trust in Blake: he’s been doing it now [in actual NFL games] for two years.
“Don’t get me wrong, I feel like my coaches trust me too. Like, I have a really good relationship with my coordinator (Phil Galiano).
“And the coaches might just say, ‘Look, we just feel like you may need a little bit more time…’ At the end of the day, this is my second year of playing football. Most kickers have been playing for at least eight or nine years between college and high school.”
Kellog's Pop-Tarts is the official snack partner of the NFL Dublin game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings on 28 September. New Orleans Saints / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO
New Orleans Saints / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO
Smyth was one of almost 40 players initially cut by the Saints on roster deadline day in late August.
The NFL is such a ruthless business that one might assume such a decision would be communicated to the unfortunate players through their representatives. But at most franchises, including the Saints, this process is conducted the old-fashioned way.
In advance of the deadline a couple of weeks ago, Smyth was summoned to the office of his head coach, Kellen Moore. That the Mayobridge man knew what was coming probably made it slightly easier for both of them.
Smyth and Moore each also knew that there was a significant chance they would resume their working relationship just two days later: after being cut, Smyth would go through the waiver process for 24 hours, during which he would be free to join another franchise. But in the event that he remained unsigned after that waiver period, the Saints would be permitted to add the Irishman back to their practice squad, as was the case last year.
“The head coach explains that they’re going to release you, and the reasons why you’re out,” Smyth says. “But then they’re also talking about the plan forward: ‘…but we want to re-sign you… but if anybody else comes and wants you to be their guy, we’ll wish you all the best.’
“He just said he thought I did a really good job in training camp and in the [preseason] games; a little bit of adversity at the start of training camp, but that I showed in games that I can execute under pressure, and that’s what matters.
“And look, I also understand that it’s not easy for a head coach to do that, like,” Smyth adds. “Nobody wants to have those conversations.”
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Upon leaving Moore’s office, Smyth signalled to his agent that he had been cut. Unable to use the Saints’ facilities the following day — standard practice given he was technically no longer an employee — he played a round of golf rather than spend the day staring at his phone.
The Miami Dolphins’ starting kicker, Jason Sanders, was due to miss a month through injury. The sheer power of Smyth’s right boot has made a sufficient impression on league scouts since his arrival from Ireland that his name was surely invoked as a potential short-term solution, but Miami ultimately leaned in the direction of veteran journeyman Riley Patterson to plug that gap.
At most other franchises, meanwhile, the International Player Pathway (IPP) slot — which allows each team to add one additional, 17th player to their practice squad under a special designation — was already occupied.
Former Ulster U20 championship winner and Tailteann Cup runner-up Smyth, conspicuously talented but ultimately still considered a gamble given his relative lack of American football experience, was caught between a rock and a hard place.
But he found a soft landing back in The Big Easy.
Charlie Smyth kicks a field goal during the Saints' preseason game against the Broncos. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“I’ve gone through the process twice now and it’s a weird set of 24 hours, to be honest, like,” he says.
“You’re dealing with the disappointment getting cut — even if you knew it was coming — and you’re like, ‘What’s actually gonna happen here?’
“I’m wondering if I’m going to get a workout with another team, and I’m also talking to the Saints’ people about other teams, saying, ‘Look, just to let you know, if something comes up here, I’m gonna [take it]. I want to play, like.’ And they know that — they know I’m a competitor, so they wouldn’t expect me to do anything else. They want to see me do well, too.
“So, you’re there wondering, ‘Is this team going to come in? Would this be a better opportunity, to join this team’s practice squad?’ I’m waiting to see if anything was going to happen, maybe, with the Miami situation.
“But nothing came up, so that was that.”
Having cleared the waivers, as kickers tend to, Smyth was re-signed by the Saints, regaining his position as the IPP-designated player on their practice squad.
“And I’m really happy to have been asked back,” says the former Ulster U20 winner. “I love it here. I feel very settled in the city and settled into life here.
“I’m just excited — really excited — that they wanted me back again. And look, we’ll just roll with it for now. There’s a reason why they want me back, so I just have to keep trusting that and I just have to keep going.
I feel like I’m NFL-ready now, so it’s just a matter of time. I just have to keep trusting that it’s gonna work out.
Smyth is one of three Irish kickers, along with former Derry U20 footballer Jude McAtamney (New York Giants) and former Ballyboden St Enda’s goalkeeper Mark McNamee (Green Bay Packers), currently signed to an NFL practice squad as an IPP player.
Practice-squad players — especially kickers, given teams tend to carry only two in their wider squad — are fully integrated into team training and meetings. Those with two or fewer years’ experience are entitled to a league-minimum salary of $13,000 per week, or $234,000 (€200,000) for the full 18-week season.
An IPP-designated player can also be elevated from a club’s practice squad to its matchday roster for up to three games per season — McAtamney made a successful full NFL debut for the Giants in November 2024, deputising for injured starter Graham Gano — or they can be upgraded to starter on a full-time basis, for a lot more money, if the incumbent is cut.
But whereas Gaelic football goalkeepers will train together, or where rivals Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley will carpool to kicking sessions for the Ireland rugby team, the routine differs for NFL place-kickers.
It was true of training camp and it will remain the case until the end of the season that Smyth and Grupe will kick first-team reps on alternating days, maintaining competition and mitigating against soft-tissue niggles. Where Grupe earns matchday reps on a Sunday, Smyth will also partake in an individual weekend session.
But this is not to suggest that backup and starter are kept apart during the week: Smyth, 24, and Grupe, 26, still train together every day as part of the special teams group. It’s an intimate enough environment that kinship becomes almost a prerequisite.
“We’re around each other all the time,” Smyth says of his relationship with Grupe. “Like, we get on really well. I’m not that guy who’s gonna be moping around like, ‘Oh, I don’t like you because you’re the starting kicker.
It’s not like that. We spend so much time together. We golf together, y’know? We do all these things together, we have the craic together.
“That’s the way it is. I feel like you don’t need to take it into your personal relationship. It’s just business at the end of the day. The best guy’s gonna win out and that’s just that.
“You don’t need to be miserable and, if I was like that, then the Saints wouldn’t have me. The type of person you are matters. You have to be the type of person that your coaches want to spend time with all year round. They don’t want to be dealing with… well, I won’t say the word, but you know what I’m saying.
“And I’ve heard plenty of stories of kickers not getting re-signed by teams because of the type of person they were.”
New Orleans Saints placekicker, Charlie Smyth, pictured for Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts, official snack partner of the NFL in UK & Ireland. New Orleans Saints / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO
New Orleans Saints / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO / Jon Lavengetto Brown/INPHO
The only conflict, per se, manifests itself internally. Smyth reckoned with it as Grupe’s ‘historic’ preseason ground to a halt as proper business began last Sunday.
During the Saints’ 20-13 home defeat to the Arizona Cardinals on Week 1, the starter pulled wide left a 37-yard field goal at the end of a painstaking 14-play drive. Grupe was successful with two further field goals from a similar range and added the extras to New Orleans’ only touchdown, but NFL kickers live on a tightrope. Every Grupe wobble is a step closer to Smyth shaking up the pecking order.
“It’s kind of a weird situation,” Smyth says. “It’s like you nearly… Ah, you know yourself. Listen, I was a goalkeeper. If you’re on the bench and the starting goalkeeper makes a mistake, you’re like…” Smyth shrugs, stopping himself short.
“Look, you want your team to win, but ultimately you want to play. It’s just a weird feeling — but your main priority has to be your team winning, 100%.”
Off the field, Smyth typically socialises with his fellow special teams players. He played nine holes with the Saints’ new punter, Kai Kroeger, the day before taking the call for this interview, although “you’d have sweat-patches just walking to your car” in New Orleans’ 35-degree heat this week.
“But also, like, somebody might DM me on Instagram,” Smyth says. “It could be an Irish lad playing rugby with NOLA Gold, and we’ll meet for a coffee. Outside of my teammates, it’s mainly Irish people, to be honest. Someone will be like, ‘I’m in town for a few days, do you want to meet up?’, or whatever.
“And look, it can be challenging to go and do things with people from off the field around this time of year, when you’re so immersed in the season. But at the end of the day, you have to remember what your job is.”
Growing up back home, Smyth initially became interested in the NFL by consuming the live highlights show, RedZone, on Sky Sports every Sunday. He was just a minor with Mayobridge when he first committed his dream career to writing: Smyth sent an email to ‘inquiries@nfl.com’ in 2019 — his inquiry effectively being how to become an NFL player.
With assistance from Tadhg Leader’s ‘Leader Kicking’ programme, it took only five years for the most outlandish idea to become reality.
Smyth has also since found himself on the other side of the Sky Sports screen on several occasions, including most notably during the broadcaster’s live coverage of the most recent Super Bowl.
February’s showpiece, in which the Philadelphia Eagles obliterated the Kansas City Chiefs, took place in the Saints’ home stadium. Incidentally, Smyth’s contribution from Sky’s designated booth made for his first opportunity to take in the Superdome from the stands.
“I just had a little pinch-me moment, y’know? Watching the Super Bowl pregame from up there, getting to be at the football and then getting asked to do the media stuff.
“It was really cool, to be honest. But y’know, that stuff maybe used to get me going, but the stuff that gets me going now is the on-field stuff,” Smyth adds. “I want to be paying on that field.
“It’s just like… there’s ‘Charlie the NFL player’ and then ‘Charlie the fan.’ So, it’s like trying to shut down Charlie the fan as much as possible, but also never forgetting that I am living my dream.
“So, it’s pinch-me moments but when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. That’s how I deal with it.
“But it’s unreal. It’s crazy. I love it. I’m so grateful for it all.”
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'It's trying to shut down 'Charlie the NFL fan' but never forgetting that I am living my dream'
FROM THE OUTSIDE looking in, the New Orleans Saints’ deployment of their two place-kickers during preseason indicated that their battle was close-run.
Last year’s starter, Blake Grupe, played the full first halves of the Saints’ three warm-up fixtures. Charlie Smyth, the Gaelic football convert who backed up Grupe in 2024, played all three second halves. Both kickers were spotless as the Saints began life under their new head coach, Kellen Moore, who last year steered the Philadelphia Eagles’ offence to a Super Bowl triumph.
Inside the Saints’ building, however, it was a different story.
NFL franchises put massive stock in their preseason training camps, which are both open to the public and documented extensively by beat writers and national media. These entail high-intensity, full-pad sessions designed to replicate in-game situations. (The vast majority of teams will also train against a rival franchise during camp, before their first preseason fixture, although the Saints were one of four sides to keep things entirely in-house this summer).
And whereas Smyth, who has the longer leg of New Orleans’ two kickers, struggled slightly for rhythm at the start of camp, the more seasoned Grupe shot the lights out: he missed just one of his 50 efforts on goal on the practice field between late July and August, and maintained that consistency throughout the Saints’ actual preseason games.
Smyth didn’t need to hear Grupe’s training camp described in passing as “historic” to know that he was going to be left disappointed for the second year running as New Orleans pared their first-team roster down to the mandated 53 players a fortnight ago.
“Ultimately, it’s… I have to take the job from him,” Smyth tells The 42. “The bottom line is that I have to make more kicks on him.
“…But if he’s not missing, like, it’s very hard, you know what I mean?” laughs the former Down goalkeeper.
“There’s just that element of, I suppose, a little bit more trust in Blake: he’s been doing it now [in actual NFL games] for two years.
“Don’t get me wrong, I feel like my coaches trust me too. Like, I have a really good relationship with my coordinator (Phil Galiano).
“And the coaches might just say, ‘Look, we just feel like you may need a little bit more time…’ At the end of the day, this is my second year of playing football. Most kickers have been playing for at least eight or nine years between college and high school.”
Smyth was one of almost 40 players initially cut by the Saints on roster deadline day in late August.
The NFL is such a ruthless business that one might assume such a decision would be communicated to the unfortunate players through their representatives. But at most franchises, including the Saints, this process is conducted the old-fashioned way.
In advance of the deadline a couple of weeks ago, Smyth was summoned to the office of his head coach, Kellen Moore. That the Mayobridge man knew what was coming probably made it slightly easier for both of them.
Smyth and Moore each also knew that there was a significant chance they would resume their working relationship just two days later: after being cut, Smyth would go through the waiver process for 24 hours, during which he would be free to join another franchise. But in the event that he remained unsigned after that waiver period, the Saints would be permitted to add the Irishman back to their practice squad, as was the case last year.
“The head coach explains that they’re going to release you, and the reasons why you’re out,” Smyth says. “But then they’re also talking about the plan forward: ‘…but we want to re-sign you… but if anybody else comes and wants you to be their guy, we’ll wish you all the best.’
“He just said he thought I did a really good job in training camp and in the [preseason] games; a little bit of adversity at the start of training camp, but that I showed in games that I can execute under pressure, and that’s what matters.
“And look, I also understand that it’s not easy for a head coach to do that, like,” Smyth adds. “Nobody wants to have those conversations.”
Upon leaving Moore’s office, Smyth signalled to his agent that he had been cut. Unable to use the Saints’ facilities the following day — standard practice given he was technically no longer an employee — he played a round of golf rather than spend the day staring at his phone.
The Miami Dolphins’ starting kicker, Jason Sanders, was due to miss a month through injury. The sheer power of Smyth’s right boot has made a sufficient impression on league scouts since his arrival from Ireland that his name was surely invoked as a potential short-term solution, but Miami ultimately leaned in the direction of veteran journeyman Riley Patterson to plug that gap.
At most other franchises, meanwhile, the International Player Pathway (IPP) slot — which allows each team to add one additional, 17th player to their practice squad under a special designation — was already occupied.
Former Ulster U20 championship winner and Tailteann Cup runner-up Smyth, conspicuously talented but ultimately still considered a gamble given his relative lack of American football experience, was caught between a rock and a hard place.
But he found a soft landing back in The Big Easy.
“I’ve gone through the process twice now and it’s a weird set of 24 hours, to be honest, like,” he says.
“You’re dealing with the disappointment getting cut — even if you knew it was coming — and you’re like, ‘What’s actually gonna happen here?’
“I’m wondering if I’m going to get a workout with another team, and I’m also talking to the Saints’ people about other teams, saying, ‘Look, just to let you know, if something comes up here, I’m gonna [take it]. I want to play, like.’ And they know that — they know I’m a competitor, so they wouldn’t expect me to do anything else. They want to see me do well, too.
“So, you’re there wondering, ‘Is this team going to come in? Would this be a better opportunity, to join this team’s practice squad?’ I’m waiting to see if anything was going to happen, maybe, with the Miami situation.
“But nothing came up, so that was that.”
Having cleared the waivers, as kickers tend to, Smyth was re-signed by the Saints, regaining his position as the IPP-designated player on their practice squad.
“And I’m really happy to have been asked back,” says the former Ulster U20 winner. “I love it here. I feel very settled in the city and settled into life here.
“I’m just excited — really excited — that they wanted me back again. And look, we’ll just roll with it for now. There’s a reason why they want me back, so I just have to keep trusting that and I just have to keep going.
Smyth is one of three Irish kickers, along with former Derry U20 footballer Jude McAtamney (New York Giants) and former Ballyboden St Enda’s goalkeeper Mark McNamee (Green Bay Packers), currently signed to an NFL practice squad as an IPP player.
Practice-squad players — especially kickers, given teams tend to carry only two in their wider squad — are fully integrated into team training and meetings. Those with two or fewer years’ experience are entitled to a league-minimum salary of $13,000 per week, or $234,000 (€200,000) for the full 18-week season.
An IPP-designated player can also be elevated from a club’s practice squad to its matchday roster for up to three games per season — McAtamney made a successful full NFL debut for the Giants in November 2024, deputising for injured starter Graham Gano — or they can be upgraded to starter on a full-time basis, for a lot more money, if the incumbent is cut.
But whereas Gaelic football goalkeepers will train together, or where rivals Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley will carpool to kicking sessions for the Ireland rugby team, the routine differs for NFL place-kickers.
It was true of training camp and it will remain the case until the end of the season that Smyth and Grupe will kick first-team reps on alternating days, maintaining competition and mitigating against soft-tissue niggles. Where Grupe earns matchday reps on a Sunday, Smyth will also partake in an individual weekend session.
But this is not to suggest that backup and starter are kept apart during the week: Smyth, 24, and Grupe, 26, still train together every day as part of the special teams group. It’s an intimate enough environment that kinship becomes almost a prerequisite.
“We’re around each other all the time,” Smyth says of his relationship with Grupe. “Like, we get on really well. I’m not that guy who’s gonna be moping around like, ‘Oh, I don’t like you because you’re the starting kicker.
“That’s the way it is. I feel like you don’t need to take it into your personal relationship. It’s just business at the end of the day. The best guy’s gonna win out and that’s just that.
“You don’t need to be miserable and, if I was like that, then the Saints wouldn’t have me. The type of person you are matters. You have to be the type of person that your coaches want to spend time with all year round. They don’t want to be dealing with… well, I won’t say the word, but you know what I’m saying.
“And I’ve heard plenty of stories of kickers not getting re-signed by teams because of the type of person they were.”
The only conflict, per se, manifests itself internally. Smyth reckoned with it as Grupe’s ‘historic’ preseason ground to a halt as proper business began last Sunday.
During the Saints’ 20-13 home defeat to the Arizona Cardinals on Week 1, the starter pulled wide left a 37-yard field goal at the end of a painstaking 14-play drive. Grupe was successful with two further field goals from a similar range and added the extras to New Orleans’ only touchdown, but NFL kickers live on a tightrope. Every Grupe wobble is a step closer to Smyth shaking up the pecking order.
“It’s kind of a weird situation,” Smyth says. “It’s like you nearly… Ah, you know yourself. Listen, I was a goalkeeper. If you’re on the bench and the starting goalkeeper makes a mistake, you’re like…” Smyth shrugs, stopping himself short.
“Look, you want your team to win, but ultimately you want to play. It’s just a weird feeling — but your main priority has to be your team winning, 100%.”
Off the field, Smyth typically socialises with his fellow special teams players. He played nine holes with the Saints’ new punter, Kai Kroeger, the day before taking the call for this interview, although “you’d have sweat-patches just walking to your car” in New Orleans’ 35-degree heat this week.
“But also, like, somebody might DM me on Instagram,” Smyth says. “It could be an Irish lad playing rugby with NOLA Gold, and we’ll meet for a coffee. Outside of my teammates, it’s mainly Irish people, to be honest. Someone will be like, ‘I’m in town for a few days, do you want to meet up?’, or whatever.
“And look, it can be challenging to go and do things with people from off the field around this time of year, when you’re so immersed in the season. But at the end of the day, you have to remember what your job is.”
Growing up back home, Smyth initially became interested in the NFL by consuming the live highlights show, RedZone, on Sky Sports every Sunday. He was just a minor with Mayobridge when he first committed his dream career to writing: Smyth sent an email to ‘inquiries@nfl.com’ in 2019 — his inquiry effectively being how to become an NFL player.
With assistance from Tadhg Leader’s ‘Leader Kicking’ programme, it took only five years for the most outlandish idea to become reality.
Smyth has also since found himself on the other side of the Sky Sports screen on several occasions, including most notably during the broadcaster’s live coverage of the most recent Super Bowl.
February’s showpiece, in which the Philadelphia Eagles obliterated the Kansas City Chiefs, took place in the Saints’ home stadium. Incidentally, Smyth’s contribution from Sky’s designated booth made for his first opportunity to take in the Superdome from the stands.
“I just had a little pinch-me moment, y’know? Watching the Super Bowl pregame from up there, getting to be at the football and then getting asked to do the media stuff.
“It was really cool, to be honest. But y’know, that stuff maybe used to get me going, but the stuff that gets me going now is the on-field stuff,” Smyth adds. “I want to be paying on that field.
“It’s just like… there’s ‘Charlie the NFL player’ and then ‘Charlie the fan.’ So, it’s like trying to shut down Charlie the fan as much as possible, but also never forgetting that I am living my dream.
“So, it’s pinch-me moments but when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. That’s how I deal with it.
“But it’s unreal. It’s crazy. I love it. I’m so grateful for it all.”
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Charlie Smyth NFL the big easy