An Emerald Empire in the NFL
By Mark Moran
The NFL has never felt closer to Ireland. After a hiatus of almost forty years, a new generation of Irish talent is once again making its mark on America’s premier sporting stage. While the escapades of Charlie Smyth, Dan Whelan, and Jude McAtamney have garnered headlines of late, the NFL has a long and storied history of Irish influence stretching back to its foundation.
The driving force behind the NFL, Joseph Carr, was an Irish-American of Armagh descent. A railroad worker and part-time journalist, Carr established the Columbus Panhandles in 1907 – a team that would go on to contest the first-ever NFL game. By 1921, he had become the league’s first president. He codified and centralised American football, and even envisioned the forerunner of the Super Bowl, a championship game between the winner of each conference. Today, Carr is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is widely revered as the ‘Father of Pro Football’.
Anticipation surrounding the NFL in Ireland has been further fuelled by the announcement of a regular season game in Dublin. This September, the Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Minnesota Vikings in Croke Park. With 350,000 NFL viewers across Ireland, the league is eager to capitalise on an expanding market. Pittsburgh’s designation as the ‘home’ team is unsurprising. The Rooney family, originally from Newry, has been inextricably linked to the league ever since Art Rooney founded the Steelers in 1933.
Following Art’s death, his son, Dan Rooney, took the reins. A former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Dan was instrumental in strengthening the team’s ties with his ancestral homeland. In 1997, he organised a pre-season fixture between the Steelers and the Chicago Bears in Croke Park – the only NFL game played on Irish soil to date. The Steelers remain under the stewardship of the Rooney family today.
The Rooney’s are closely related to another illustrious NFL dynasty – the Maras. In 1925, patriarch Tim bought the New York Giants for the princely sum of $500. A shrewd, cutthroat bookmaker on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Mara guided the team through the turbulent 1920s, relying on sharp business acumen to ensure the survival of the fledgling franchise. In 1930, his Giants defeated the legendary Notre Dame Fighting Irish in New York, convincing many that the professional game could compete with its collegiate counterpart.
Until the 1940s, the NFL was largely rooted in the northeastern U.S. That changed in 1946, when Dan Reeves, a Clare man, moved his Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles, ushering in a new era and opening up the untapped commercial potential of the west coast. Two decades later, Joe Robbie, whose family hailed from Kilkenny and Offaly, recognised the promise of South Florida and founded the Miami Dolphins. Pat Bowlen, of Tipperary lineage, was a dedicated supporter of Irish-American community initiatives in Denver following his purchase of the Broncos in 1984 for $70m.
By the 1970s, the Irish influence began to move from the boardroom to the locker room. Neil O’Donoghue was the most notable homegrown talent. Corny, as he is known, grew up in Clondalkin, and earned a scholarship to Auburn University in Alabama after impressing in multiple sports, including representing both the Dublin minors and Shamrock Rovers. Drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1977, then led by O.J. Simpson, O’Donoghue would make his name in Tampa and St. Louis. He stands out as the tallest kicker in NFL history at 6’6”.
In 1979, O’Donoghue kicked the winning field goal against the Chiefs to secure the NFC Central division title for the Buccaneers for the first time. He moved to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980, winning the starting job under tragic circumstances when the Cardinals’ incumbent kicker was paralysed in a car accident. O’Donoghue’s five-year spell in Missouri was mixed. His boot launched the Cards deep into the playoffs in 1982, but his career was all but ended a year later by missing three overtime kicks in a single game. O’Donoghue retired from the league in 1985 and now enjoys a successful career in car sales in Clearwater, Florida.
In 2001, the greatest player the sport has ever known entered the league. Tom Brady, a descendant of Milltown, Co. Cavan, would go on to win a record-breaking seven Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Peyton Manning, Brady’s longtime rival, even dabbled in Irish – teammate Jeff Saturday once claimed he used simple play calls as Gaeilge to confuse the opposition.
Plenty of current luminaries of the game claim Irish heritage. Aaron Rodgers, regarded as one of the elite quarterbacks of the modern era, traces his ancestry to Clonroche, Co. Wexford, through his grandfather Jim. Kilkenny can lay claim to Christian McCaffrey, the San Francisco running back widely considered the league’s premier all-round talent. Justin Herbert, quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers, has ancestral roots in Donegal.
Denver head coach Sean Payton remains a polarising figure in NFL history due to his involvement in the “Bountygate” scandal – a pay-to-injure scheme run by the New Orleans Saints between 2009 and 2012. His family, originally from Westport, named him in honour of Fr Patrick Peyton – his first name is Patrick, though he goes by Sean – and one might wonder if their devout Catholic values ever gave him pause. Some, like San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, have actively embraced their Irish heritage. Lynch made headlines last year when he visited Ballybunion, County Kerry, to explore his roots.
Yet it is only in recent years that the Irish impact on the NFL has entered a true golden era. Dan Whelan, from Enniskerry, broke a four-decade drought in 2023 by becoming the first Irishman to play in the NFL since O’Donoghue in 1985. He was followed last year by Mayobridge’s Charlie Smyth, a former goalkeeper who kicked a game winner for New Orleans against Arizona, and Swatragh’s Jude McAtamney, who was flawless on his Giants debut.
That so many of these prospects have backgrounds in Gaelic football is no coincidence. The sport’s emphasis on kicking technique, spatial awareness, and composure under pressure makes it a natural training ground for NFL special teams. Goalkeepers and free-takers, in particular, develop a skill set that translates remarkably well to punting and placekicking, an advantage increasingly recognised by American coaches and scouts.
This growing pipeline owes much to the tireless efforts of a few pioneering figures who have worked tirelessly to showcase Irish talent and generate grassroots interest at home – with this website and the Gaelic Gridiron podcast playing no small part. Their vision and persistence have made the journey from the GAA to the gridiron more viable than ever.
Additionally, the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) programme, established in 2017, provides elite international athletes from diverse sports with a ten-week training camp to develop American football skills and showcase their talents to NFL scouts. Since its inception, the IPP has enabled forty-one international players, including Smyth and McAtamney, to sign with NFL teams.
However, Smyth and McAtamney are not alone. Laois-born Ross Bolger – an award-winning punter in Idaho recently drafted by the BC Lions in Canada – and Galway’s Andy Quinn, a coveted five-star recruit at Boston College, are poised to follow in their footsteps. Just this month, Ballyboden goalkeeper Mark McNamee made his preseason debut for the Packers. And in a moment that felt like the Irish-American football story coming full circle, Castleisland’s David Shanahan starred in Georgia Tech’s upset over Florida State at the Aviva Stadium last year. This was a striking reminder that Ireland’s presence in the sport is not just emerging, but flourishing.
With Dublin set to host its first regular season game, and a new wave of Irish stars making their mark, Ireland’s journey is just getting started. From Joseph Carr’s pioneering vision to the modern trailblazers carrying Ireland’s flag on the gridiron, the future of our NFL story is bright.