An Irish players playing in the US?

podge57

Just curious to know if there are any Irish (not irish -american) players at a high level in the states - college level upwards

i read about an irish guy who got a scholarship to a d2 team maybe 2 years ago, but i cant remember much else

also, how would an irish player go about getting spotted - i doubt there are any scouts - is it just from coaches who have contacts in the US?

jdivision

podge57 wrote: »

Just curious to know if there are any Irish (not irish -american) players at a high level in the states - college level upwards

i read about an irish guy who got a scholarship to a d2 team maybe 2 years ago, but i cant remember much else

also, how would an irish player go about getting spotted - i doubt there are any scouts - is it just from coaches who have contacts in the US?

Glen Baker's the only guy really, he's in D3. I suppose the main route would be play in the league here, get picked for team ireland (which is back this year) and they play US colleges and you can get spotted. That or try semi-pro in Britain in order to be scouted more regularly. There's one player in the IAFL who got offered a prep scholarship in Texas but turned it down, another who got offered semi-pro in Britain but turned it down and there's one guy who turned down NFL trials but played NFL Europe and world league - he's dutch though. There's also a number of Americans playing here who would have played at a high level in the States - there's been players from LSU, TCU, Oklahoma and Southern Carolina for example - and they can recommend ways. Most players here don't have the dedication to do it though, they start too late or don't work out enough.

davyjose

I just don't think this country is athletically inclined enough to ever make the leap of finding someone good enough to play a foreign sport (here), in a country like America where sport is next to religion, and Football is king.

When you consider that USC have had 112 Olympic Gold medals in its history and all of Ireland has had less about ten EVER, then you can start to see the sort of elite level it would take to break through to their football team, and even then what % of Trojans make it to the NFL? Half? Quarter? And these are kids playing since they could walk.

I don't think we'll ever see a 100% paddy in the NFL; the best we'll ever see is a couple of ex-Pats kids TBH.

tallaghtoutlaws

We will see some paddys over the next 20 years in College ball but be a long shot if they ever make the NFL. I myself will be going to a low end D3 College in WI hopefully in September 2009 pending my Sats etc etc and have already been in contact with the Athletics director and Head Coach as I know both and will have a chance as a walk on and I will be 29 most likely will never make it as a starter but the experince to try prove myself day in day out will be experince. A friend of mine his kid bro lives and plays high school ball in New York and has already been offered scholarships for Rutgers and Buffalo and other colleges in the state of New York. Kid still has his Dublin Accent. He is 17 now and moved to US at the age of 10.

juvenal

davyjose wrote: »

I just don't think this country is athletically inclined enough to ever make the leap of finding someone good enough to play a foreign sport (here), in a country like America where sport is next to religion, and Football is king.

When you consider that USC have had 112 Olympic Gold medals in its history and all of Ireland has had less about ten EVER, then you can start to see the sort of elite level it would take to break through to their football team, and even then what % of Trojans make it to the NFL? Half? Quarter? And these are kids playing since they could walk.

I don't think we'll ever see a 100% paddy in the NFL; the best we'll ever see is a couple of ex-Pats kids TBH.

In fairness I think it's more a case of sheer population and economics than athletic inclination in producing world-class sporting talent.

It's stretching it to say that sport is next to religion in the US, and while the four big sports enjoy unparalleled popularity amongst the US public, there are large pockets of the States where some of them have little if no following (except perhaps football).

In a country of over 300 million people, it's a mathematical certainty that they'll produce athletes in almost every sporting discipline that will reach the top of their field. There is no other "first-world" country with a population that even comes close to the list. It's the third most populous nation on the planet, and the closest country that you could say has the same standard of living and is economically comparable is Japan, which is 10th with 127 million. Of the 20 most populated countries on the planet, four could be classed as “first-world”, and the US still has a larger population than the other three combined.

Obviously the US is classed as a single entity, but once you go under the skin, it's really a continent with the same cultural, meteorological and economic differences as Europe or Asia. What sets the US apart is that they speak the same language, sit down and watch the same TV in the evening, and on Sundays a large proportion of them tune into the same sport.

I've rambled a bit , but what I'm trying to say is that is would be as difficult (and probably more so for an Irish athlete) to reach the top tier of American Football as it is for a soccer or rugby player from the US to reach the top (i.e. European/Antipodean level) of their chosen sport. Granted the US has produced some fine soccer and rugby players who can hold their own in the European leagues, but they’ve never come close to producing anyone in these sports who could truly be called “world-class” – far from it.

The reason the US can produce athletes who can compete at the top level in most sports is sheer economics and demographics, rather than a perceived obsession with sport. In fact, I would say that the US is somewhere down the list of countries who are sports-mad, Australia being a prime example of a country who punches well above it's weight when it comes to producing top-class sports people from a limited population pool.

Regarding USC, and a lot of the top NCAA colleges in the US, they’ve a student body of over 30,000, and an annual athletic budget somewhere in the region of $75 million! It’s natural that they’ll attract the cream of high school talent from the four corners of the US, with scholarships galore and a budget of that size. I don’t think it’s fair to use an organization of this size when comparing Olympic medals or any other sporting achievements for that matter, as there are a variety of factors that enable them to be that successful.

As the NCAA ad says, "There are over 360,000 NCAA student-athletes and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports”. For every Vince Young or Reggie Bush, there are 99 other Jason Whites. It's all about the volume of numbers coming through, and the odd one or two that make it to the top table.

jdivision

Let's put it this way, imo we will never produce a WR or DB of sufficient speed but if you got them at 16 and they were naturally athletic and dedicated and good enough coaches we could produce a lineman or a linebacker. Running back much harder but there's the talent to play at college level. Could also get a kicker, we had a high school coach over who said our kicker could play at college level if he worked at it.
Coaching is also extremely important and some of the teams in the league were horrendously coached, most improving though

Hazys

There is no chance of an Irish person making to the NFL no matter how talented he is, if he is not in the country by at least 16 playing, training, week in, week out in a quality standard high school league.

I think there is something like 15 million amateur football players in the US who would have a head start over any irish person.

Other than a Kicker or Punter i think chances are pretty slim

tallaghtoutlaws

Hazys wrote: »

There is no chance of an Irish person making to the NFL no matter how talented he is, if he is not in the country by at least 16 playing, training, week in, week out in a quality standard high school league.

I think there is something like 15 million amateur football players in the US who would have a head start over any irish person.

Other than a Kicker or Punter i think chances are pretty slim

Not true there are alot of Irish kids playing football in US High Schools right now guys who were born and bred here and moved to the US as children. They are still Irish evn if they have only lived 3 or even 10 years here. With regards an Irish person growing up here and then going to a US college the likes of Glenn Baker or even me definitely not although Glenn would stand a better chance due to his age and size. But yes you are right Semi Pro football is huge over there and there is easily a pool of a couple of million guys who would be ahead of any Irish person to make an NFL team.

Karlusss

There are a load of players in the NFL born in places like Korea, but they're all army babies. Could see an Irish kicker or punter playing in theory, but unless they'd moved to America pre-high school I can't see any regular team player ever playing at a high level. Same reason there aren't any Polish people on inter-county hurling teams yet, it's just too big of a gap to make up.

tallaghtoutlaws

Karlusss wrote: »

There are a load of players in the NFL born in places like Korea, but they're all army babies. Could see an Irish kicker or punter playing in theory, but unless they'd moved to America pre-high school I can't see any regular team player ever playing at a high level. Same reason there aren't any Polish people on inter-county hurling teams yet, it's just too big of a gap to make up.

Some of the greatest NFL players never played football pre high school so that means abosolutely nothing. I spend alot of time there and have seen some athletes play high school ball having never played pee wee and have very good chances of going far in life. What a ridiculous statement. Most American kids get their real first taste of football in High School.

The kid I talked about in the Post above has big scholarships to D1 schools as a linebacker and never played pee wee but is an athlete and picked up American sports in High School.

Karlusss

I meant that they'd get there in time for high school football, not that they'd play kiddies football.

tallaghtoutlaws

Karlusss wrote: »

I meant that they'd get there in time for high school football, not that they'd play kiddies football.

Cool beans