Rory Beggan: 'I didn’t want people to know I was away. If I failed no one knew it ever happened'

NEW CHALLENGE: Rory Beggan lines up to kick an American football. Pic Credit: James Crombie, Inpho.

A decade ago, Stephen Cluxton was looking to add length to his kickout when the Dublin goalkeeping coach Gary Matthews had a brainwave. Matthews, a former League of Ireland player, took inspiration from Juventus and their weighted footballs.

The story goes that Juventus used weighted footballs specifically designed by a Danish manufacturer to improve their goalkeeper’s range and accuracy when throwing it out. Matthews heard that yarn and ordered a similar batch for a Gaelic football. That source strengthened Cluxton’s immense placed-ball power.

Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan’s kicking prowess is such that he is now an NFL hopeful. How did he develop that technique? Not with weighted footballs, anyway.

“Funnily enough, Gary Matthews came in for a few sessions under Malachy in 2016. He brought those footballs down. He was helping with kickouts. It was the one time I ever got a muscle injury.

"I don’t know what it was, the change or whatever, but I did my groin and kept me out for a week or two. I said I’d never use them again,” Beggan says.

“Steve Williams was a big help to me. I was a big man for eight or nine steps and boot it down the middle because that was the game back then and got me noticed for county teams. Eamonn McEneaney wanted to bring in a more possession-based kickout approach.

"Steve was there and he came from a soccer background, so it was all accuracy and short run-ups. It took me a while, but now it is a daily thing. I put a lot down to him.”

Next week Beggan will fly to America with Down’s Charlie Smyth, Wicklow’s Mark Jackson and former rugby player Darragh Leader to eventually take part in the Indianapolis combine. First, they will train at the IMG Academy in Florida.

Galway native Tadgh Leader, Darragh’s brother, runs a kicking programme that brings Irish athletes to the attention of American football scouts and recruiters. He has been coaching Beggan in recent months.

The end goal is a dream scenario, one spot on an NFL roster for 2024. Dreams are rarely straightforward. In October, it emerged that four intercounty players took part in an international combine in London. Three were named. One was not, deliberately.

Beggan didn’t want the news to break while his club Scotstown were still in championship action. He was told an official announcement would be made in January. They lost the Ulster final on December 10 and a day later, the Irish Independent broke the story that he would be attending the combine.

For Beggan it could have been worse. But it could have been better too. Not everyone was aware he could potentially miss the 2024 campaign. At the McKenna Cup launch the day after word got out, Monaghan’s Michael Bannigan was put up for media duty. On stage he was lobbed a general question about the mood of the players.

“I don’t really have much to comment on that at the minute,” he replied.

NFL International Player Pathway Class of 2024. 

“That (London) combine was around the semi-final of the club championship,” says Beggan. “So I didn’t tell a soul. I didn’t even tell the club manager. I didn’t want anyone knowing. I didn’t know how it was going to go. I didn’t want people to know I was away. If I failed no one knew it ever happened.

“I knew it might have got out after that, but I wanted it lowkey. A family member knew and that was it. The Monday night of the county final I told a few of the boys and it was kept in-house until it was prematurely announced after the Ulster Club final.”

The toughest conversation Beggan had was with both managers, Vinny Corey and David McCague. They both ultimately understood he was on the edge of an enormous opportunity, yet this is still unprecedented and they hadn’t even contemplated his absence until it was a live possibility. That is the reality of this brave new world. So much is unknown.

“I didn’t want too many to know but it was important the managers at least knew in case it was leaked, people who I valued had to know. Thankfully all of those people were told. It was tough for the managers because they didn’t know it was coming.

"At the end of the day, they all understood. The big thing is it is not guaranteed. They can still plan that I will be available, but it would also be great for Monaghan and Ireland to have someone representing in the NFL.”

Beggan could be at the centre of a multi-billion-dollar industry this time next year. Or he could be back wandering all over the field in Clones in a couple of weeks’ time.

In the meantime, every possible mentor has been tapped up. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns place kicker Patrick Murray has close Monaghan connections through his uncles, Ciaran and Brendan. Beggan plays to take advantage of that.

He has followed Green Bay Packers punter Daniel Whelan on Instagram: “However so far he hasn’t followed me back,” he laughs.

In American football, punters and kickers are two different positions. Beggan will attempt both, although kicking is his main priority. Technically he should be obviously suited to it. What about psychologically?

“You don’t like to say it, but a goalkeeper is like an individual in a team sport. Similar to a kicker in NFL, an individual in a team sport.

“A lot of time as a goalkeeper you work away from the team on a different skill. The way it is now you come up to hit frees. You are exposed to a more pressurised environment and then go back on your own for a bit. the last two years I’m rarely in the goals but I do understand that side of it.

“A lot of heat can come on a goalkeeper quickly. They used to be the least respected position on the pitch. Now it is one of the most important. One mistake can be fatal. It takes pressure playing in goals, for Monahan and for Scotstown, but over time you embrace that.”

If he does secure a contract, the 31-year-old stresses Monaghan will be fine. He saw it from the sideline last Saturday as he watched them defeat Dublin in the league opener. For Monaghan and their goalkeeper, the task now is to kick on. A bright future looms if they can stay level and perform.

“It wasn’t difficult to watch on last week. It was strange but enjoyable. To see young lads be fearless, come in and not let the fact they are in Croke Park on a Saturday night against the All-Ireland champions in front of an almost full Hill 16. That was the heartwarming thing.

“I remember looking around the bench and seeing Darren Hughes, Conor McManus, Conor McCarthy, Dessie Ward, Karl O’Connell was a sub at the time. I was just thinking, this was the main core of the team over the last few years. These new lads are going out and giving them their fill.

“I was delighted coming back the road at their performance and hopefully they’ll back it up against Kerry. It is like everything, a pat on the back one week can be a kick up the ass the next. Hopefully we don’t get too high and push on.”

For more information on the International Player Pathway program, visit https://www.nfl.com/international/player-pathway.