It’s no secret that Harry Kane is a massive American gridiron football fan. But apparently for Kane his dreams go beyond just fandom.
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In an interview with ESPN, Kane confirmed that he does have a goal of one day putting on the pads and kicking for an NFL team, much like many European-born kickers or kickers with soccer backgrounds have done. Former Tottenham forward Clive Allen kicked for the London Monarchs in NFL Europe and Sebastian Janikowski emigrated to the U.S. from Poland. In another famous example, former FC Dallas goalkeeper and U.S. youth international Josh Lambo is the current starting placekicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Almost any time that an NFL team has come to London and trained at Tottenham’s training ground, or that Tottenham has come to the U.S., Kane has found a way to get some kicks up.
In addition, while rehabbing his ankle injury, Kane attended the 2019 Superbowl, and reportedly even made it into the team party afterwards, invited by Tom Brady. In the report, Kane said he’s admired Brady for years and sees some of himself in Brady, someone who was overlooked as a youngster and someone who no one thought could become a legend in the sport.
“It goes back to that drive to be the best. Even if I download a game on my phone, can I be the best in the world?” Kane told ESPN. “If you play in the Premier League and the World Cup and you then play in the NFL,” he wonders, “would you then be considered one of the greatest sportsmen ever?”
Kane revealed that he could potentially spend a year or two at the end of his professional soccer career in MLS, though it would be interesting to see if he could live up to expectations and keep the physical capacity the way Wayne Rooney has at this point in his career. Either way, after that, Kane could transition into an NFL kicker, if a team was interested. It could set a new path for more former pro soccer players to become kickers, though the skills involved are very specialized.
