TD 1
ning is there. [Tom] Brady/Manning rivalry, so he
became a Colts fan, and then those two guys talking to each other in group chats and, you know, family gatherings, just football was around me. And so I was always just kind of a bit of a fan, playing fantasy football for a while. Then I went to UCD, they had a team, which was the first exposure I got to it being in Ireland, or Europe in general. And I just needed a break from Gaelic and rugby at that stage, just thought I’d pick it up for a year and, four years later, I’m still playing it and, you know, got the bug straight away. While the transition from Gaelic or rugby to American football is becoming more common, sometimes it happens out of nowhere. Hosford said that his entire American football career happened by a complete fluke. “My whole American football career is an accident,” Hosford said. “I turned up here, about in the 2014 season, to watch my brother who was playing here, and they were short. There were short numbers, and they got me to register for the game the following week, and I was supposed to only play two games. And then they came back, so I played for about nine seasons. We went to Division I ball in 2018. We played Shamrock Bowl football for a couple of years and then I left. I was a special teams coach for a little while, and I was also the team manager for a little while, and then when our last head coach left, it kind of fell on me by accident.” Now, with American football continuing to grow, some of Ireland’s most talented players are beginning to head to the United States, both at the college football and NFL levels. The NFL established the International Player Pathway Programme, designed to give international players chances in the premier league of American football. Charlie Smyth, a former GAA goalkeeper for Down, became the first Irish member of the league’s IPPP to ink a deal with an NFL fran18 chise in 2024, earning a three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints as a kicker. Daniel Whelan, a punter from Wicklow, played college football at the University of California-Davis and currently plays for the Green Bay Packers. Whelan, who made his NFL debut in 2023, became the first Irishman to play in the NFL since 1985. Other Irish athletes are beginning to make their way over to the States at the collegiate level as well. Andy Quinn, a former rugby player at Blackrock College, committed to play at Boston College as a kicker in the fall of 2025. American football is gearing up for big growth across Ireland in the coming years, and with the NFL’s efforts to grow the game on the island, it seems inevitable that more and more athletes will make the transition. American football clubs are also beginning to give athletes chances who didn’t even grow up playing American football, as Smyth, Whelan, and Quinn exhibit. The AFI’s clubs are passionate about growing the game here in Ireland, and with the youth continuing to get more involved as time goes on, those involved with the game look to continue to skyrocket its popularity and bring it to a bigger stage, establishing themselves as the pioneers of American football in Ireland. Email rhinos18reg@gmail.com for more info or americanfootball.ie for general info countrywide. “My whole American football career is an accident. I turned up hereto watch my brother who was playing here, and they were short.”