‘Thirty-two jobs in the world for what I’m looking at’: Kicker with Kilkenny roots aiming for NFL

As St Martin’s continue to bask in the afterglow of their ladies football team’s historic All-Ireland junior football title victory, sporting excellence of a very different kind is paying a visit to the club in Muckalee over the Christmas period.

Andy Quinn, the latest participant in the invasion of Irish kickers to American football, though Galway-born, has strong Kilkenny roots, and his visit to his grandmother’s home in the north of the county generates great excitement as dozens turn out to the clubhouse to meet him.

Andy has just completed his first season with the Boston College Eagles in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), one of the four top leagues at the highest level of collegiate competition and has ambitions of making it to the top of the sport.

Away from the platters of sandwiches and flowing cups of tea, in the quiet of the club’s changing rooms, Andy reflects on his Kilkenny heritage.

“My gran, Sarah Quinn, she’s from Castlecomer and as I grew up, she always made sure that my Kilkenny roots were there”, he says.

Andy, like many international players who find their way into American football, had an unorthodox path to the game. 

A youth rugby player, he was encouraged to enter the Ireland’s Kicking King competition where he joined 180 participants which was whittled down to three, and before he knew it, Andy was kicking in the competition’s final at the Aviva Stadium in front of 45,000 people when he was just 17 years old in 2022.

Andy won the competition which took place at half-time in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic game between Nebraska and Northwestern with one decision to participate altering his future in ways he couldn’t have imagined.

“When I went off the field at the Aviva, I definitely didn’t think I’d be playing division one college football in America three years later so it was an absolute butterfly effect”, he recalls.

“I didn’t really think I was going to kick in American football again, but it’s funny how things can work out. I’m delighted that I took part in it, the way it's changed my life has definitely been for the better and I’ve got so many great experiences from it,” he adds.

Though Andy expected this to be the end of his foray into the sport, he now had tape of himself kicking seven field goals from seven attempts in front of a full stadium and was given an opportunity to attend the NFL Academy in Loughborough.

Entering his Leaving Cert year, Andy made the significant decision to leave school and move to England at 17 to pursue a path in American football while self-teaching for his upcoming exams.

“I homeschooled myself for sixth year which was a challenge, but I was also training every day so the two were both nice distractions for each other and it sort of balanced out”, he outlines.

“I wasn’t overthinking either the Leaving Cert or American Football. I ended up sitting my exams in Glenamaddy in Galway and if the NFL Academy had been the end of my football journey that would have been life-changing enough, so I’m extremely grateful to have gotten the opportunity to go there”.

The sport wasn’t finished with him yet however, as after a season in the Academy that ended without any college offers, Andy travelled Stateside to attend Kohl’s Kicking Camps in an attempt to raise his profile among recruiters.

The largest stage for kickers, punters and long snappers to showcase their skills, the camps bring together hundreds of hopefuls and after impressing at events in Philadelphia and Tennessee, Andy rose through the rankings to eventually be named the 12th best kicker and 4th best punter among that year's recruiting class.

After cementing his position as one of the most promising recruits available at his position, the offers finally started to arrive and though his services were courted by several other elite programs, Andy committed to play for the Boston College Eagles on a full scholarship under former Houston Texans Head Coach, Bill O’Brien.

Photo: Andy with family and friends during his visit to St Martin's GAA Club, Muckalee

The Eagles’ pitch to Andy stood out in the crowd due in large part to the city’s deep Irish links and relative proximity to Galway.

“When you’re going from a rural area in Ireland to America, you need to make sure that you have as many links to home as possible and Boston is probably the most Irish city in the country”, he says.

“Their big selling point to me was that Boston College is possibly the closest division one, power four conference programme to Ireland and it’s only a six-hour flight home so it just made so much sense for me to go there”.

The profile of Irish kickers in the sport is growing rapidly with new additions now actively being sought out from the biggest legs in GAA and rugby.

Charlie Smyth from Mayobridge in Down has made the starting spot his own on the New Orleans Saints, tying a longstanding franchise record for field goals made in one game while Enniskerry’s Daniel Whelan punted the Green Bay Packers into the NFL playoffs with a career year, a mindset which Andy is determined to emulate.

“I’ve trained with Charlie and he firmly believes that he’s one of the best, same with Dan Whelan. They’re not there to take part, they’re there to thrive and be the best in the league”, Andy asserts.

“When you have that competitive mindset, especially when you’ve overcome so many challenges as all these Irish lads have, you’re not going over to stay with the pack. Why not thrive and be the best?”

On top of the many responsibilities of being a full-time student athlete, Andy endeavours to use his growing platform to spotlight issues and organisations including one close to his own life.

Andy’s brother Matthew was born with 22q11 deletion syndrome, a condition with symptoms similar to Down Syndrome. Andy serves as an ambassador for 22q Ireland and has written about how Matthew's defiance of doctors' predictions that he would never walk or talk has impacted his views on resilience and helping others on his own journey.

“I’m working with 22q which was a pothole in the road for my whole family when my brother was born, but with the support of the 22q Ireland network, it made the jump out of that pothole a lot smoother”, he recounts.

“Now he’s walking, talking and going to mainstream secondary school next year, so it’s really good to see the community that Ireland can give you and I’m seeing that over in Boston as well”.

“Because so many good people have helped me, I feel obligated to help others so they can thrive like I have. It feels like an obligation where I need to help organisations like that and grow awareness for them. I’m not going to fix any problems, but I can spread the word”, he outlines.

Andy’s freshman year served as a transitional period where he didn’t see too much of the field, but now that he’s been bedded into the programme he’s hoping to make the starting spot his own in the 2026 season.

Despite his limited action, he made his time gametime count as his net average yards per punt of 55 was the highest of any player in the country and included a 68-yard bomb to pin back the SMU Mustangs in November.

There’s a long road ahead, but Andy concludes by affirming the belief that his abilities and dedication can take him to the very top by landing a coveted NFL roster spot.

“In my head I’m thinking that if I have the God-given ability, it’s down to me to put in the due diligence and the time into making sure that I get better in college”.

“At the end of the day there’s only 32 spots, 32 jobs in the world for what I’m looking at, so the odds are still really low but I’m just looking forward to the season and building up my reputation”.