In April, Mullaghbawn man Paddy McAteer kicked an American football for the first time. In July, he committed to Troy University to play for the Trojans.
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00:00Paddy, first of all, congratulations. How are you feeling?
00:04I'm buzzing, yeah. It felt surreal in there to be honest with you, but just to say it out loud,
00:08something that I've been telling from my inklings up to my closest mates, my family,
00:12that for it to finally happen was very surreal. It was a
00:16good moment for my family and I'm very proud to represent my family and then there's
00:20people from Mullaban Club and all there as well, so it's good for me to be able to do this for the people of them
00:24and try and inspire the younger generation to try it out, worst comes to worst. You learn more about kicking.
00:28How hard was it to keep quiet?
00:32It was getting harder by the day, so it was there towards the end. The more excited you are to get out, the harder it becomes,
00:36but now that it's out there, I'm buzzing. I can't wait to get out and just perform
00:40to the best of my ability and just fly the flag for Ireland and the rest of the country. Yeah, you have the Troy T-shirt
00:44on. Can you explain why you picked Troy? How you came to that decision?
00:48Yeah, well actually from the start I kind of wanted to go somewhere small town east coast because it felt
00:52probably a bit closer to home there and I'd be able to fit into an environment there or as I've went into a big city
00:56like Mullaban, I'm sure the locals know it wouldn't be bigger than your fingerprint
01:00or fingernail nearly, but yeah going into a small town east coast
01:04it's awesome so it is, you know what I mean, somewhere you wanted to go, a wee college town,
01:08rural area around it, very similar to home, so in terms of being acclimatised to it, it would probably be
01:12more comfortable to be able to settle in earlier for that. That's not happened so fast,
01:16is it? Was it April, the first day you came to American Football? Yeah, it was just the start of April, I think
01:20towards, yeah, so it's moved quick now, but tag says these things can move at 100mph and it just
01:24proves that it's the truth, you know what I mean, but it's just, you just have to
01:28stay on top of it, do the work, do all the things you need to do in the background on top of your kicking and then
01:32dreams can come true, you know what I mean, that's proved in there tonight and hopefully when I get out there
01:36I'll perform to a high level. Yeah, and you've three years of college eligibility, you spoke in there about
01:40you probably do have development, you know that yourself, but that gives you
01:44breathing room if you like. Definitely, yeah, well I want to get out there and just as soon as I can just fit into the
01:48environment and then from there just build on and become the best version of myself in terms of a kicker as I can
01:52and I know going out to that sort of American environment where you're going to be with the best kickers in America
01:56there's only one place you go, I think it's on the trajectory of getting better and I'm excited to learn
02:00wee snippets from them and I've learnt a lot from tag in two months but I know I can learn a lot more
02:04when I get out there as well, for definite. And obviously you follow the sport and that
02:08helps too, you're an NFL fan, let's talk a bit about Charlie Smith because I don't think
02:12we can tell your story without telling Charlie's story at the same time, he's inspired you, you know
02:16it's incredible, same high school, same college. Yeah, it's crazy. Can you put that into
02:20words about what Charlie means to you and how he's inspired you to go on this journey?
02:24Yeah, as I said in there, Charlie's a role model on and off the field for me, even before
02:28he went it's just some of the stuff he's done at Sigurdsson in terms of kick outs and plays balls, it was phenomenal
02:32to even watch and then obviously learning from him, seeing what he's able to do in terms of kicking
02:36and you're able to take snippets and then when you heard about how real it got with him in either kicking and the rest
02:40of the international player pathway boys going down, it became more
02:44real and I just thought to myself, Charlie's going for it and now
02:48why not me, it's just the fact he was from St. Colmans and St. Mary's
02:52it showed that a local lad can do it, there's nothing stopping us so I went down and tried my hand
02:56and thank God it's proved to be a good choice. Yeah and it's probably something that even a year
03:00or two ago, lads from South Armagh, South Derry, we shouldn't be
03:04a target of football but do you see a wave coming now, a lot of Irish boys I think
03:08right across the country are now starting to maybe think there's something in this for them?
03:12Yeah, Daphne Tighe said this is only the start and it is because last year I think was the first
03:16there was Ross Bulger and Ronan Patterson and then obviously Charlie this year, he's kind of just skyrocketed
03:20in terms of popularity because they saw an Irish guy in the NFL and he's representing
03:24Ireland and the UK so through that, as I said Tighe says this is
03:28only the start so obviously I'm looking forward to represent the flag
03:32when I'm out, same as the rest of the guys over with me, Jack and Sean and Matthew and Charlie
03:36himself in the NFL but as I said there's going to be more ones coming through every year and I'm just
03:40hoping to inspire them to go for it and if it works out
03:44life changing opportunities, if not you become a better kicker, forget football or soccer
03:48or rugby, whatever your chosen sport is out of it, that's my attitude towards it
03:52And you're going to be in a video game, that must be something like a childhood dream?
03:56That's crazy, I didn't even know college football existed until I saw the hype about it last year
04:00because I think the last game came out when I was about P6 so it's kind of
04:04in terms of American football, I'm sure it's similar to FIFA for big soccer heads
04:08so to say you could be kicking off as Paddy McIntyre, it doesn't even feel real to be honest
04:12with you but hopefully some of the boys will watch it and stand me, hopefully me
04:16bombing them deep in the end so hopefully none dropping short, that's what I'm getting signed to do
04:20I think the sales around here are going to skyrocket, hopefully yeah, that's the goal anyway
04:24inspire them and see how I get on, hopefully I have a good rating
04:28We'll finish on this, you've already touched on it but I feel like we should finish on this point
04:32everybody in that room, you touched on it already, they mean something to you, you have
04:36incredible support, incredible family, incredible friends, what do they mean to you in your own words?
04:40Yeah everything, without a doubt, I know myself, I wouldn't have been here without them
04:44everyone in that room has done something for me, no matter how big or how small this paved the way for me
04:48today, for that I'm fully appreciative of everyone in that room
04:52it means something to me, to Eamon, to Clare, to Jimmy, to the wee lad Daniel there
04:56just going out and showing him how to kick a football, that's what it's about for me, inspiring the younger generation
05:00and proving to them that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it
05:04which Tag showed us and his logo for his company or leader kick
05:08he's pioneering new frontiers, that's what he's doing, we're going out flying the flag
05:12we're also inspiring the younger generation for me in Mulliband and also hopefully
05:16our man, the rest of the country at that, me and Charlie and the rest of the guys going out
05:20it's something I hold with great pride and as I say everyone in that room means something for me so I'm doing it for them as well.