Leader: ‘Mark Jackson or Niall Morgan or another player, they will be full-time in an NFL roster’

Tadhg Leader rules Leader Kicking, a coaching programme that brings Irish athletes from all sporting backgrounds to the attention of American football scouts and recruiters.

ATTRACTING ATTENTION: Leader Kicking is helping Irish athletics to be noticed by American Football scouts and recruiters. 

In his Killeshin home, Ross Bolger had Pittsburgh Steelers posters plastered all over the wall. His mother once painted him a picture of star player TJ Watt. Last month he was pitchside during an NFL game as a remote childhood fantasy suddenly became an attainable reality.

The former minor and U20 Laois footballer signed a two-year scholarship with Division One college football school Idaho State earlier this year. The man who helped him do it is Galway native Tadhg Leader. Leader stood alongside him at that Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens game, the pair having been invited by owners the Rooney family.

Gridiron wasn’t on his radar growing up, with the Connacht academy and Ireland U20s then the sole focus. Rugby brought him from Ireland to Italy and the USA, who he would go on to represent internationally. While stateside he became fascinated with American football and initially tried to become a kicker. Now he rules Leader Kicking, a coaching programme that brings Irish athletes from all sporting backgrounds to the attention of American football scouts and recruiters.

“I was just constantly looking around the Steelers stadium realising, next year we could be watching an Irish lad here,” Leader recalls of their recent visit. The Steelers recently attained NFL marketing rights for the island of Ireland and announced plans to play in Dublin. American football has long been a niche sport with its own group of diehards here but now it is threatening to ignite. Leader is part of the fuse.

“I didn’t expect everything to happen so fast. It was a dream and I was aware it was out there, but I didn’t really think I’d be helping drive the international wing. I thought I was too new. Last year we sent over some college guys and caught the eye of the right people in the NFL. This is dreamland stuff.

“A year ago, I wanted to get up and running. Now we’ve lads playing D1 college every week and next year we’ll have lads on NFL rosters. These are opportunities that were not realistic 12 months ago.

“Long may it continue. American football over the next seven to ten years, in terms of the opportunities provided, it will be far beyond what is happening with Irish lads going to the AFL. I think it will be Irish lads playing American football.” 

Last week four intercounty goalkeepers travelled to the NFL international combine in England. Tyrone's Niall Morgan, Down's Charlie Smyth, Wicklow's Mark Jackson and an unnamed player all participated in the recently expanded International Player Pathway. A cohort will eventually travel to America in preparation for the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

NFL ROSTER: Mark Jackson could find himself on the NFL roster next season. 

“The lads who came over are all proven high-level intercounty players who did what they are supposed to do, perform to a high level. I’m fortunate the NFL International Programme trusts me to identify the best kickers in the world. It is a global thing, there are lads from India and Mexico, but the Irish guys caught the eye.

“We have a three-week window now to identify who else is out there and then five will go to America. I am hopeful four out of the five, and possibly five out the five will be Irish.

“We’ll go to the US, train in Florida for a month. Prepare to kick in front of all 32 NFL teams. For some people it sounds mad, we’re talking about the world’s biggest league and a guy from Galway opening the door, but it’s real.” 

Leader does not approach prospects; they reach out to him. The attraction is obvious. Nothing to lose, a whole new world to gain. Rónán Patterson from Cavan is another current college kicker with Monmouth University in New Jersey. The bulk of applicants come from a GAA background. They bring a base upon which Leader can build.

“These players do numerous types of kicks in Gaelic football, different swings, different angles of approach. This is the exact same swing and approach; it is all about being repeatable. GAA players have a good touch and feel for the ball, and we help them adapt mechanically. You can only change so much.

"It’s like golf, you can make one or two adaptions to a swing in a season, but you won’t overhaul it. You won’t overhaul how Niall Morgan kicks the ball. I am trying to give him two or three triggers that would give him more consistency.” 

Progressing through professional sport can be a brutal battle. He was that warrior. First in rugby, then in American football. False promises and empty platitudes cut constantly. He can’t guarantee a player anything but an opportunity. It is one hell of an opportunity if they are at the level required.

“We have metrics comparable to NFL kickers. If the lads don’t meet the metrics, they don’t go. It is not bringing lads for the sake of it. Do I think an Irish guy will be the starting kicker for an NFL team next year? I’d be very surprised.

“But an Irish guy will be on an NFL roster full-time next year, competing to win a job and secure a contract? Extremely likely.

“Because of this programme, every NFL team can have an extra player on their roster who is a foreigner and they don’t count against the roster or the salary cap. They are incentivised. So next year, Mark Jackson or Niall Morgan or another player, they will be full-time in an NFL roster. Full-time athletes living that life. As long as the lads keep performing like they did in London and carry that through to Indianapolis, this will happen.”