“Doors kept opening up for me and I just kept walking through them,” says the Down native.
He moved through a very significant one over the weekend. With their preseason game on the line, Smyth nailed a 37-yard field goal, his first kick of any real consequence in the sport, as his New Orleans Saints ran out 16-14 winners over the Arizona Cardinals.
Within a year of kicking an American football for the first time, he landed a game-winning score.
“It was just an unbelievable feeling, honestly,” the Mayobridge man told Erin Summers on the New Orleans Saints podcast.
“I’m just so grateful to get the opportunity. And to think, from this time last year, if you’d have told me a year on you’d be making a game-winning field goal in an NFL game, I would have laughed at you.”
Smyth’s journey from the International Player Pathway along with the likes of Rory Beggan, Mark Jackson and Darragh Leader to signing with the Saints has been closely followed here, but nowhere closer than at home in Mayobridge.
“The kick was at around 8.0pm [local time], that’s about 4.0am back home. I FaceTimed my parents at like 5.30am and they were still up! My friends were still as well,” said Smyth.
“Just seeing that it just means the world. And as I was getting to bed, people were waking up back home and the messages started to flood through.
“The Irish are so good at getting behind one of their athletes whenever they are doing well, messages from all over the country, that’s what we are so good at as a country, taking pride in our athletes and I don’t take that for granted.
“And honestly I’m so proud to be Irish and be part of this team, it’s unbelievable.”
Smyth was originally signed to the Saints practice (back-up) squad and should he remain there for the entire season, he will earn a minimum of $216,000, as per league rules.
However, if he wins the top job, he could earn in the region of $800,000.
Blake Grupe is the incumbent and is coming off his rookie season, where the 25-year-old was 30 from 37 on field goals and 40 from 40 on extra points last year.
Grupe started as the kicker against Arizona, landing two field goals and a PAT after a Saints touchdown. However, Smyth landed the longest kick of the day for the Saints with his game-winning 37-yard conversion.
Smyth was awarded the game ball in the aftermath, which he will keep, as well as his jersey from what was a landmark day.
However, he is determined to keep pushing, with the Saints taking on the San Francisco 49ers and the Tennessee Titans before their season opener on September 8 against the Carolina Panthers.
“On to the next one now,” he said.
“Making one kick in an NFL game isn’t going to win you a job. It is about trying to make the most of every opportunity you get and trying to be a 100pc kicker, that’s the aim.
“And I feel like from way back to now my percentages are getting higher and higher and I’m becoming more consistent and I showed that I can deal with the pressure with the game on the line so it’s about making the most of every opportunity.”
