Irish eyes are smiling down on Charlie Smyth following his NFL debut on Sunday, and the rookie's impressive performance might have locked him in as New Orleans Saints' primary kicker.
Smyth, an International Pathway Player out of Northern Ireland, was only called upon twice in Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, but the rookie was perfect on those instances -- connecting on a 56-yard field goal and booting a successful onside kick in the fourth quarter to prolong the Saints' comeback attempt.
"Ice cold -- ice cold in his veins," Saints quarterback Tyler Shough said of Smyth. "I think it's tough, when you're sitting around the whole game, you're kind of trying to stay warm; I think he did a really good job."
Smyth was idle on the sideline for the entire first half as New Orleans was held scoreless. The Saints marched toward a touchdown to open the third quarter, but the kicker remained a spectator as head coach Kellen Moore called for a successful 2-point conversion attempt to make it a one-score game.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter until Smyth's right leg was needed for something other than a kickoff. With a little more than six minutes to play and the Saints down 11 points, he stared at a 56-yard field goal in his first official attempt in the NFL.
Smyth struck it perfectly through the uprights with plenty of distance to spare and was seen celebrating with his teammates before the ball was caught in the net. His crucial three points made it a one-score game once again.
“Just happy to be able to knock it down,” Smyth said. “I looked up and saw it was going up the middle. You’re only able to develop as much whenever you can trust your operation. I don’t have to worry about them ever because I know the ball is going to be perfectly set up.”
While the 56-yarder was a tall task, Smyth was then asked to attempt the near impossible after the Saints needed the ball back late in the fourth quarter.
Smyth leaned the football horizontally and halfway off the tee for the onside kick before tumbling the football at a perfect pace and with the slightest English toward the 10-yard touch line. Dolphins players seemed unsure what to do in the moment as the ball slowly trickled past and ended up in Devaughn Vele's grasp.
"You know it's going to spin eventually as long as you don't smack it," Smyth said. "We practice those every week. It's nice to be able to help the team out."
Referees determined the ball grazed a Dolphins player before Vele caught it just a smidge before the touch line; the final explanation of what was a spectacular onside kick and recovery.
"We practiced it during the week and caught our own hands team off guard," Smyth said postgame of the onside kick. "Me and Vele had a discussion about it and we went for it. Vele did a great job."
While the Saints ended up falling short, Smyth might have came away with a win.
His impressive NFL debut came at the end of a week during which he won a kicking competition against Cade York, which elevated him to the active roster from the practice squad over the weekend. Smyth's journey to the NFL began in 2024 after he decided to take his kicking talents to the NFL after playing Gaelic football his entire life.
Best of all, Smyth's parents scrambled across the globe from Ireland to Miami just in time to see their son not only make his NFL debut but perhaps secure his role in the process.
“If we had to wait another three or four hours longer, I don’t think it would have been possible,” Smyth said of the turnaround his parents made for their flight. “It was so awesome to see them here.”