Former Kerry minor footballer David Shanahan makes college football debut for Georgia Tech

David Shanahan. Picture: Georgia Tech

Former Kerry minor footballer David Shanahan has played his first American college football game for Georgia Tech.

Shanahan, a member of the Kerry minor football panel that won All-Ireland honours in 2017, is the first Irishman ever awarded a full scholarship to play American college football.

The Castleisland native, who attended the Prokick Australia kicking academy in Melbourne in 2019, continued to hone his kicking skills during the Covid-19 pandemic by punting in solitude back home on his uncle’s dairy farm.

He took Georgia Tech's three punts during their shock 22-21 loss to Northern Illinois, which saw the visitors produce a last-minute touchdown and two-point conversion to win at the Bobby Dodd Stadium.

He kicked for 158 yards in total, an average of 52.67 yards per kick, resulting in two touchbacks. His longest effort was 63 yards.

Well done ⁦@David_Shanahan_⁩ playing your first game for ⁦@GeorgiaTechFB⁩ and having an avg. of 52.7 for 3 kicks is very impressive. Tough loss, but plenty of positives #YellowJackets #GTFootball #Punter pic.twitter.com/iTfYSc3NER

— Dave Canty (@Tremdave) September 5, 2021

“You’ve seen how much the kicking game has improved,” said head coach Geoff Collins during his post-match press conference.

“I thought Gavin Stewart did a great job kicking off for us in this game. Even David Shanahan, for the first time punting in a college football game, I think he averaged 52 or 53 yards per punt in his first action.

“The kicking game we will continue to work with, there were certain parts that were really good.”