LOUTH GOALKEEPER TIERNAN Markey is among a number of rising GAA stars who have attempted to impress as NFL kickers.
Ardee man Markey, along with talented Dubliners Sam Moloney and James McCaghy, made it to the last 20 of the Ireland’s Kicking King talent spotting programme.
The series, which ran throughout August at 10 different venues nationwide, culminated with 20 players getting the opportunity to kick at half time of last Saturday’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium.
A group of 10 will then train throughout September and October before being flown to Chicago where four will be selected to take part in an exhibition during the 7 November Big Ten game at the brand-new Ryan Field.
Organiser Tadhg Leader said the carrot for those who have impressed throughout the trials is a potential ‘life-changing’ scholarship at a US college.
Between 800 and 1,000 attended the try-outs with Leader optimistic that up to 15 could ultimately secure scholarships to study and play American Football.
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Markey was Louth’s reserve goalkeeper in this year’s Championship and made the 20 while Moloney, in goals for Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup and minor co-captain McCaghy joined him.
Daniel McKernan, a MacRory Cup winner with Abbey CBS earlier this year, impressed too while Jack Ryan, the star goalkeeper of Offaly’s Leinster MFC win in 2025, made the 20 also.
“I don’t watch a huge amount of football but I know a lot of the athletes would have been going, ‘Jeez, that’s X player’ or ‘that’s Y player’ during the try-out evenings,” said Leader, a former professional rugby player who helped land an NFL contract for New Orleans Saints kicker Charlie Smyth.
“These are the athletes themselves, so they would know them. So I wouldn’t really know the names, but we have had lads walk in the door and then you find out he’s played X amount of times for his county.
“Some just came to learn about kicking because we had guys a few years ago, top Gaelic football players, do it and they learned more about kicking that they took back to their own sport. So some have no intention of going any further with this, it’s just to learn more about ball striking.”
Tadgh Leader pictured at a kicking clinic in 2024. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
The Ireland’s Kicking King try-outs ran throughout August at 10 different venues, six of which were GAA grounds. The last event was held at Ballyboden St Enda’s in Dublin last Friday, following previous events at Parnell Park, Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Castlebar and Thurles.
Top football goalkeepers Rory Beggan, Mark Jackson and Niall Morgan have chased the American dream in the past.
But, unlike the approaches made by AFL scouts to young GAA players, Leader has never initiated the contact and says he has retained a good relationship with Croke Park.
“I think a big thing is that if lads want to come and kick, they come and find us,” said Leader.
“It’s not like recruiting guys, or chasing guys. That’s a huge part of it. And secondly, these guys all go to college, so they’re going to get a degree whilst playing elite sport.
“So nobody begrudges a lad furthering his education and doing sport in between, versus…like, I played professional rugby and when you go into professional sports, other sports, and Australia is the obvious example to use, education isn’t integral to the journey whereas the good thing about what we’re doing is you have to do both.
“The support has been brilliant from all communities because they’re proud to see lads from their clubs and communities heading off to America, studying and playing and doing that. I think as long as we keep doing it as we’re doing, where lads find us and we’re respectful of that process, it will be fine.”
Leader said the majority of those who attended the try-outs were GAA players, with a large cohort of goalkeepers. A state-of-the-art measuring system, which included Trackman technology, was used to extract data around kicking distance, leg speed, angle of attack and ball speed.
“A lot of people hit the guts of 60 yarders, which is very long,” said Leader, who revealed the winner from the Ballyboden event converted a 56-yard kick in wet conditions. “I’d say we probably saw eight to 10 lads go to 60 yards. And the lad that won in Ballyboden, he would have definitely hit from 60 on a dry day. I think the NFL record is 67, 68 yards.”
Leader said that landing a scholarship is a ‘life-changing’ experience and he’s optimistic about the chances of several from this year’s programme.
“It’s a pretty big number but I think 10 to 15 would be a good return,” he said. “And then, like, we’ve had guys who get picked by us and then they subsequently get picked for their county and they say, ‘Hey, I want to play this (GAA), I want to try this first’ and we say, ‘Off with you, whatever suits you, genuinely’. So there’ll be some of those scenarios but I’d say 10 or 15.”
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Louth goalkeeper and Dublin duo impress at NFL kicking programme
LOUTH GOALKEEPER TIERNAN Markey is among a number of rising GAA stars who have attempted to impress as NFL kickers.
Ardee man Markey, along with talented Dubliners Sam Moloney and James McCaghy, made it to the last 20 of the Ireland’s Kicking King talent spotting programme.
The series, which ran throughout August at 10 different venues nationwide, culminated with 20 players getting the opportunity to kick at half time of last Saturday’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium.
A group of 10 will then train throughout September and October before being flown to Chicago where four will be selected to take part in an exhibition during the 7 November Big Ten game at the brand-new Ryan Field.
Organiser Tadhg Leader said the carrot for those who have impressed throughout the trials is a potential ‘life-changing’ scholarship at a US college.
Between 800 and 1,000 attended the try-outs with Leader optimistic that up to 15 could ultimately secure scholarships to study and play American Football.
Markey was Louth’s reserve goalkeeper in this year’s Championship and made the 20 while Moloney, in goals for Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup and minor co-captain McCaghy joined him.
Daniel McKernan, a MacRory Cup winner with Abbey CBS earlier this year, impressed too while Jack Ryan, the star goalkeeper of Offaly’s Leinster MFC win in 2025, made the 20 also.
“I don’t watch a huge amount of football but I know a lot of the athletes would have been going, ‘Jeez, that’s X player’ or ‘that’s Y player’ during the try-out evenings,” said Leader, a former professional rugby player who helped land an NFL contract for New Orleans Saints kicker Charlie Smyth.
“These are the athletes themselves, so they would know them. So I wouldn’t really know the names, but we have had lads walk in the door and then you find out he’s played X amount of times for his county.
“Some just came to learn about kicking because we had guys a few years ago, top Gaelic football players, do it and they learned more about kicking that they took back to their own sport. So some have no intention of going any further with this, it’s just to learn more about ball striking.”
The Ireland’s Kicking King try-outs ran throughout August at 10 different venues, six of which were GAA grounds. The last event was held at Ballyboden St Enda’s in Dublin last Friday, following previous events at Parnell Park, Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Castlebar and Thurles.
Top football goalkeepers Rory Beggan, Mark Jackson and Niall Morgan have chased the American dream in the past.
But, unlike the approaches made by AFL scouts to young GAA players, Leader has never initiated the contact and says he has retained a good relationship with Croke Park.
“I think a big thing is that if lads want to come and kick, they come and find us,” said Leader.
“So nobody begrudges a lad furthering his education and doing sport in between, versus…like, I played professional rugby and when you go into professional sports, other sports, and Australia is the obvious example to use, education isn’t integral to the journey whereas the good thing about what we’re doing is you have to do both.
“The support has been brilliant from all communities because they’re proud to see lads from their clubs and communities heading off to America, studying and playing and doing that. I think as long as we keep doing it as we’re doing, where lads find us and we’re respectful of that process, it will be fine.”
Leader said the majority of those who attended the try-outs were GAA players, with a large cohort of goalkeepers. A state-of-the-art measuring system, which included Trackman technology, was used to extract data around kicking distance, leg speed, angle of attack and ball speed.
“A lot of people hit the guts of 60 yarders, which is very long,” said Leader, who revealed the winner from the Ballyboden event converted a 56-yard kick in wet conditions. “I’d say we probably saw eight to 10 lads go to 60 yards. And the lad that won in Ballyboden, he would have definitely hit from 60 on a dry day. I think the NFL record is 67, 68 yards.”
Leader said that landing a scholarship is a ‘life-changing’ experience and he’s optimistic about the chances of several from this year’s programme.
“It’s a pretty big number but I think 10 to 15 would be a good return,” he said. “And then, like, we’ve had guys who get picked by us and then they subsequently get picked for their county and they say, ‘Hey, I want to play this (GAA), I want to try this first’ and we say, ‘Off with you, whatever suits you, genuinely’. So there’ll be some of those scenarios but I’d say 10 or 15.”
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GAA NFL Tadhg Leader tee-rrific