Has any Irishman made it in the pros?

mikemac

This could be a daft thread, mods feel free to do as you wish

On the Ravens we have Ramon Harewood, a 6th round pick and plays on the OL. Great physical tools and needs some time to build up technique and confidence. From Bermuda, got recruited for college but never played the game before then. Had success in other sports.

Need I say more about another late starter, Michael Oher

Everyone knows about the Sebastian Vollmer who started playing the game at 14 and has a great career ahead of him.

Has any Irishman ever made a career in American football?
I was going to post the same question about Baseball in that forum but it's very dead. When you think of the awesome skill involved in hurling I wonder could we someday see people have a go in minor leagues or above?

eagle eye

Neil O'Donoghue was a kicker for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 80's. He is the only one I know of but there could be others.

bobby wade

1 France Fitzgerald BB County Kerry 1923 1923 0 0 1 7
2 Birdie Maher E County Mayo 1920 1920 0 0 0 2
3 Brian McGrath G 1922 1922 0 0 0 1
4 Tom McLaughlin FB 1921 1921 0 0 1 1
5 Bob Nash T County Meathe 1920 1925 1 0 3 33
6 Con O'Brien T 1921 1921 0 0 0 1
7 Neil O'Donoghue K Dublin 1977 1985 0 0 8 0 110
8 Paddy Quinn HB Kilemeena Westport 1920 1921 0 0 0 4
9 John Sinnott T Wexford 1982 1982 0 0 1 4 9
10 Adrian Young LB Dublin 1968 1973 0 0 1 9 52


http://www.pro-football-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi?country=Ireland&state=

jdivision

If anybody does these days it'll be somebody who moved to States as a teenager. not being allowed play until 18 is a major handicap here.

D3PO

Nice list Bobby.

Ronan O' Gara was offered an NFL contract a few years back aswell but then again does he count as Irish given he was born in the US

Jdivision is spot on not being able to play contact football until 18 here means its going to have to be somebody that was born here and moved to the US when they were young.

with the recession in play its possible we might have a few in 10 - 15 years time.

Just had a look there out of curiosity re our Irish college prospects. Conor Leckey still yet to feature for West Liberty after being redshirted last year and Glen Baker never got to play for Mount Ida. Not sure if hes still there but if he is hes not even on their roster. So not likely to have an irish prospect come out of college anytime soon

jdivision

D3PO wrote: »

Ronan O' Gara was offered an NFL contract a few years back aswell but then again does he count as Irish given he was born in the US

His agent made that up

D3PO

jdivision wrote: »

His agent made that up

didnt know that. must have been trying to pump his IRFU salary up hey .

TITAN #1

If anybody does these days it'll be somebody who moved to States as a teenager. not being allowed play until 18 is a major handicap here.

Sorry, JDivision, this is simply not true.

A person who is u18 cannot take part in a Senior IAFL game.

A person who is u18 can practise and learn how to play American Football with a senior squad.

There is provision and regulations for u18 teams within IAFA, however there is nothing to compel any IAFL teams to create and organise Youth Football.

Cork ran a Youth programme for a number of years, not sure if it still exists.
In Craigavon, we have a good number of U18 players who kit up and practise with the Senior squad in a controlled fashion.
I think we could move this on if other teams were to take this on and a platform was created for games to take place, like a blitz.

Anyway, sorry to jump of topic but I am not aware of any Pro football players who were born in Ireland and played football in Ireland before moving into Pro football, but it could happen someday.

I am also pretty sure that we could get a Team Ireland from the ranks of Pro Football players if we applied the granny rule that works in soccer.

jdivision

Titan, we both know that training isn't like a game. That's why our rookies got their asses handed early on and improved after a couple of games. Practice is important but nobody's going to the States on the basis of it. People need to see game tape.

TITAN #1

Totally agree, the sooner we establish Youth Football in Ireland, the better.

SHOVELLER

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_O%27Donoghue

If anyone has any contact details for Neil would very much appreciate it.

Go raibh maith agaibh

LeixlipRed

There was a segment about him in a recent short history of Shels. PM if you want details, the author Sean might be able to put you in touch.

SHOVELLER

LeixlipRed wrote: »

There was a segment about him in a recent short history of Shels. PM if you want details, the author Sean might be able to put you in touch.

Thanks. Good LOI book alright. Enjoying the lower division?:D