Charlie Smyth: 'I just thought I could skip it all and go straight to the NFL back when I was 18' 

Charlie Smyth wrote an email to the NFL asking how he would break into the sport during his teenage years - last week he signed a contract with New Orleans Saints. 

DREAM COME TRUE: Charlie Smyth wrote an email to the NFL asking how he would break into the sport during his teenage years - last week he signed a contract with New Orleans Saints. Pic: ©INPHO/USA TODAY Sports/Kirby Lee

Down goalkeeper Charlie Smyth has fulfullied a boyhood dream after signing a three-year deal with New Orleans Saints as a kicker as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) program.

Smyth becomes the first Irishman to secure a spot with an NFL side through the IPP program.