Charlie Smyth is smiling out from the screen. A black Saints jersey with his surname in gold is draped across a chair behind him. It’s midafternoon in New Orleans, a few days after his night of nights in the Superdome.
On joining the New Orleans Saints in March 2024, Smyth talked about how he had spent countless Sunday nights sitting at home in Mayobridge watching the NFL until the early hours of Monday.
Last Sunday, Smyth took centre stage in his own dream by kicking the winning score for the Saints with just two seconds remaining against the Carolina Panthers.
“The last few days have just been crazy, it’s kind of been the result of a lot of quiet work in the background these past 18 months,” he says.
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Smyth has now made three consecutive appearances for the Saints and accumulated 17 points – successfully making four out of five field-goal attempts and registering five from five with his extra point efforts.
On his regular season debut against the Miami Dolphins three weeks ago, he announced himself Stateside by drilling over a 56-yard field goal. He also had an onside kick recovered late in that game, with recoveries averaging only 5 per cent for the last three NFL seasons.
He followed that up with a 30-yard field goal and three extra points against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before what looks set to be a landmark moment in his career last Sunday.
Smyth finished the game against the Panthers with eight points, two field goals and two extra points. However, it was the context of his second field goal that changed everything – the Down native arrowing over a 47-yard attempt straight down the middle of the posts to secure a 20-17 win.
Standing on the sideline watching the play develop in the seconds before he was called upon, he was beckoning the responsibility to land on his shoulders.
“I was just talking to our snapper Zach Wood and Kai Kroeger, who’s our punter and also holds the field goals.
“I said, ‘I have a feeling we’re going to have a game-winning opportunity here’. I just remember smiling as Tyler (Shough, quarterback) was driving up the field. I just felt like I was ready for whatever opportunity was going to arise.
“I have the ultimate trust in our field-goal team, then it’s just down to me to knock the ball through. It was just a really cool moment.
“It’s kind of what you come over here to do, right? It’s kind of one of those moments where you’d have been sleeping at night and thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be cool to have a game-winning attempt’, and thankfully we got that opportunity on Sunday.
“Missing doesn’t even come into your mind at the time because I just felt so ready for the moment.”
Videos of Smyth’s team-mates engulfing him in celebration with the match ball went viral after the game, but when the euphoria subsided somewhat, the former Down footballer ventured back to his apartment with friends and family.
“You might think that back home [in Ireland] we would go to the pub and drown ourselves in beer or whatever,” when asked how he celebrated on Sunday night.
“But after the game you’d be so tired, so I just went and got some pizzas with my mum, sister and girlfriend. We had a few beers as well and just went back to my apartment and chilled.
“Just really soaking it in. I wish my dad could have been there as well, but he’s tied up with work at the minute. It was just a really cool evening and I was really glad to get to celebrate with those who are closest to me.”
Smyth hopes to play against the New York Jets on Sunday. If he does, he’ll have been officially elevated to the active 53-player roster – a significant milestone in his NFL journey.
The 24-year-old has had to be patient for his chance to come, with the Saints finally giving him his opportunity only after cutting Blake Grupe, who had missed eight field goals from 26 attempts during the season.
It can be a brutal and unforgiving business, as Derry’s Jude McAtamney discovered this season.
“Everybody’s been so supportive but you also have to remind yourself that unless I keep doing this, unless I keep putting the ball through the uprights, then it might not be so positive,” says Smyth.
But he has already developed an affinity with New Orleans.
“I love it here, the people are great,” he adds. “Everyone in the building, they’re really good people and I love being around my team-mates as well.
“I’m still an Irishman, Ireland is still my home, but I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person here. New Orleans is nearly like Ireland in a way. People who are born and raised in Louisiana tend to stay more than people do in other states. People have their [extended families] about, just like at home, so you really get a feel for that here too.”
And coming back to Ireland at any stage over the last two years without having got a chance to kick in the NFL was never really an option for Smyth.
“I want this too much to even think about going home,” he says.
“I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this. I was seeing the results in practice, I was just seeing too much progress to even think, ‘No, I want to go back home’.
“Don’t get me wrong, seeing Down or Mayobridge playing in championship, you’d love to be out there with the boys, but over here you’re working towards something. There are millions of people watching and you’re getting to represent your country on a world stage, which is one of my whys. It’s been great.”
Long may he kick.
