Harry Kane still wants to be an NFL kicker, but only when he retires from kicking a different shape ball around, and the latest injury news is promising that he will be back at his day job soon.
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Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Kane will miss the huge London derby against Chelsea on Thursday (start time, 3pm ET on Peacock Premium) due to an ankle injury, but he could return to play against either Everton (FA Cup) or Manchester City next week.
“Good progress, he’s happy with the progress and of course we’re happy too. I think it’s not a very optimistic thing to say next week he should be playing, it will be just a consequence of his good evolution. So we’re happy,” Mourinho said. “We were scared when it happened but next week we play Everton and City at the weekend. I believe for one of these matches he should be back.”
Mourinho also said he has cleared the air with Dele Alli and he will play a key role for Spurs in the second half of the season, despite his lack of minutes so far, as the England international wanted a loan move to PSG in January but that didn’t work out.
“I found common ground with Dele Alli. I had a good conversation with him yesterday. We need the real Dele back and I made that very sure to him,” Mourinho said.
Tottenham go into the game against Chelsea reeling from a loss at Brighton, their second-straight defeat, as they are in a real battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League.
Harry Kane to be an NFL kicker in the future?
Switching to the other type of football...
Kane, 27, has mentioned on several occasions that he’d love to be a kicker in the NFL and the Tottenham and England star reaffirmed that ambition in an exclusive interview with Houston Texans star, and massive Chelsea fan, J.J. Watt.
Speaking to Watt via our partners in the UK at Sky Sports, Kane revealed he is still a New England Patriots fan but will be cheering on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend.
“I would like to explore that opportunity one day but I’m still thinking about soccer first,” Kane said. “I know it would take a lot of hard work and dedication to go out and do it. There will be a lot of training and a lot of practicing... I guess it all comes down to who can handle the pressure the best. The more I watch it the more I see it. In the big situations, a lot of the time the game goes down to a last minute or last second field goal. I’d like to think my experience with dealing with that in soccer would put me at an advantage.”
Kane admitted that it comes down to hard high and far you can kick it, but said a lot of the skills translate from soccer to being a kicker in the NFL.
We can see it now.
A 35-year-old Harry Kane has just kicked the winning field goal for the Patriots in the Super Bowl and is celebrating with 51-year-old quarterback Tom Brady (he’s returned to the Pats, FYI) and chugging beers and celebrating with Rob Gronkowski (also back at the Pats) as the confetti falls from the sky.