As the NFL season hurtles towards its denouement at Super Bowl LX in California in a little over three weeks from now, Charlie Smyth is already looking ahead to next season and tightening his grip on a coveted role as the kicker for the New Orleans Saints.
Smyth, who first landed a spot with the team in March 2024 via the NFL's international player pathway programme, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months that saw him elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
The Mayobridge man and former Down footballer made his first regular season start against the Miami Dolphins in November and went on to feature in the Saints' final six games of the regular season, where they finished with a losing 6-11 record in the NFC South.
However, Smyth upheld his side of the bargain, tying the team's record of five successful field goals in a win over the New York Jets in December.
Earlier that month, the 24-year-old also knocked over the decisive field goal against the divisional foes Carolina Panthers with just six seconds remaining on the clock when the game was tied at 17-17.
After seeing off rivals for the kicker position, Smyth concluded the campaign with a perfect record on extra points, converting all 13 attempts.
On field goals, his stats read 12 from 16.
Those kicks have been celebrated as giant strides on Irish shores, but they could also be regarded as tentative steps in a position that demands near-perfection, as compatriot and former New York Giants kicker Jude McAtamney discovered this very season.
Reflecting on his dizzy rise, the surefooted Smyth told viewers of the Late Late Show: "The last few months, especially before I got playing, they were challenging – not knowing if your chance would ever come.
"But then when you get the chance... there's a deeper meaning to what you're doing. You can think of all your controllable thoughts, but then you think of who you're representing.
"You're getting to represent the people of Mayobridge, your family, the Smyth name, the people of Down who have been unbelievably supportive, and Ireland.
"I took that down in my notes before every game."
Mayobridge's Charlie Smyth reflects on his meteoric rise with the @Saints in the NFL #LateLate #NFL pic.twitter.com/b0Q1e7Tcrm
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) January 16, 2026
Smyth's regular season return is eight months away, but the player has his sophomore year in his immediate focus.
"I'm thinking of next season already," he admitted. "I'm not satisfied with what I've done because I feel like there is a higher standard that I can reach again.
"But I feel like those six games were a great learning process and there is stuff that I can take into the off-season that I can work on, and there is plenty of stuff to work on."
With the NFL generating revenues in excess of the GDP of many small countries, the contrast to his GAA days is a stark one.
"I'm not going to sit here and diss Mayobridge," Smyth quipped when asked to compare the two sports.
"We have three great fields in Mayobridge, but it's next level.
"One of the machines in our training room costs $60,000, just to do electromagnetic pulses on your leg. That's just one example.
"There is so much money and resources pumped in that you can never imagine being pumped into football at home and it's just an unbelievable set-up."
Smyth isn't the only Irish player plying his trade in the NFL, with Wicklow's Daniel Whelan punting for the Green Bay Packers.
Having arrived in the United States as a 13-year-old, Whelan did follow a far more conventional path to the league, but Smyth hopes his own career progression can tee up others still on home soil or preparing to embark on collegiate careers in unfamiliar settings.
"The next dream is to establish yourself in the league and be known as one of the best guys in the league, and I feel that I've got the talent to do that," he added.
"You're not just representing yourself. You're representing the other guys coming through. There are a lot of guys going to the top college programmes in America.
"I feel like if I do well, that kind of helps their cause as well.
"The more Irish there are in the league, the better it is for all of us, and the more guys I can kick with in the off-season, and have a good time with, and play golf with!"
