Way back in 2013 the Detroit Lions took a shot on a Norwegian YouTube kicking sensation named Havard “Kickalicious” Rugland. He wowed everyone with his crazy trick videos that he put out and he caught the eye of the NFL. The Browns and Lions both brought him in for a workout, but it was the Lions that signed him and brought him to training camp.
Ultimately it did not work out. The Lions chose David Akers to be their guy. While Detroit did try to sign Rugland to their practice squad, the NFL would not allow them to do so since a rule that would allow an extra spot on the practice squad for international players became defunct after NFL Europe shut down.
A new version of that rule went into effect last year with the International Pathways Program allowing teams to have a 17th player on their practice squad as long as they’re an IPP player. That's how the Lions wound up with Italian offensive lineman Max Pircher.
The IPP is back in full swing again this year and there is a kicker that is starting to gain attention with his big leg. That’s Charlie Smyth from Ireland.
Smyth is a goalkeeper for the Down County Football team. They play Gaelic football which looks like a lot of fun. Kicking is part of what they do there. It's almost like soccer and American football combined. There's a soccer goal with a field goal goal posts sticking out of it.
Smyth can definitely kick. He has aspirations of being an NFL player and he’s been impressive during his time in the IPP. On Tuesday he put up this video of him nailing a 63-yard field goal outside. Look at the curve on this thing.
The Lions did re-sign Michael Badgley this offseason, but they’ve also been looking at other kickers. The interest is there. The Lions should make things interesting by bringing Smyth into the fold at camp and seeing what he can do. They could use a kicker that has a leg like that.
So far only one team has invited Smyth to come work out and that’s the Saints. We’re still pretty early into the process though, so he more than likely will have other workouts scheduled. If the Lions get a shot to host him, they should do it.
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