Paddy McAteer commits to Troy University
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.