Rory Beggan: 'Not a tick-box exercise' - Monaghan star aims to go 'full throttle' at NFL Combine

Monaghan's Rory Beggan says he is prepared to go "full throttle" in his pursuit of an NFL contract, insisting that it is "not a tick-box exercise".

Beggan, Down goalkeeper Charlie Smyth, Wicklow's Mark Jackson and ex-Connacht rugby player Darragh Leader, will compete at the NFL Combine in March.

Beggan, 31, admits leaving Gaelic football has been "hard to wrestle with" as he embarks on a new chapter.

"It's an unbelievable opportunity," Beggan told BBC Sport NI.

"[It's] something that hasn't come around too often in Irish quarters.

"You're looking at Dan Whelan at the minute, who is nailing it with Green Bay [Packers] and that's something that we want to do.

"We're not going over here to just tick a box, to say we have been at the NFL Combine, that's not what we are trying to do. We're going over here to try and get a contract and try to become one of the best 32 kickers in the world.

"It's not a tick-box exercise or a bucket list, we are going over here to succeed."

Beggan has been training three times a week for the past six months under Tadhg Leader (Darragh's brother), the Irish-born former rugby union player who heads a project dedicated to introducing Irish sportspeople to American football.

Along with Smyth, Jackson and Leader, he will travel to Florida for a training camp before being put through their paces in front of NFL scouts at the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis on 3 March.

Confirmation of Beggan, Smyth, Jackson and Leader's inclusion in the NFL's International Player Pathway (IPP) follows the shock news earlier this week that Wales rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit is also chasing an NFL contract.

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Beggan has been an ever-present figure in the Monaghan goal since making his inter-county debut in 2011.

A two-time Ulster Championship winner in 2013 and 2015 and an All-Star winner in 2018, he has established himself as one of the best free-takers in Gaelic football, notching crucial points for Monaghan and his club Scotstown over the years.

He has also been at the forefront of the goalkeeping evolution in Gaelic football, often showing a willingness to leave his goal, drive up the field and participate in attacks.

But despite his revered status in Gaelic football circles, Beggan says he has a "steely determination" to forge a new path and earn a living playing in the NFL.

"You have to leave a bit behind to go and do this and if you succeed, which I'm hoping to do, it's essentially lights out with Monaghan and Scotstown for the time being," added Beggan, who lost the Ulster Club final with Scotstown last month.

Beggan is known as one of the best free-takers in Gaelic football

"If you do get signed I don't know how long you're going to be there, I hope to be there until I'm 38, 39, 40 years of age. As long as they keep you, as long as you are fit to do the job.

"It's not something I want to do half-hearted, I want to go at this full throttle so steely determination is the way to go about it."

On the prospect of never playing for Monaghan or Scotstown again, Beggan added: "It wasn't an easy conversation to have with family and friends and the managers.

"Football has been a part of my life since I was six years of age and this is a whole new chapter if it comes across.

"It's something I'm looking forward to and leaving Gaelic football behind to try and succeed in another sport is going to be difficult, hard to adjust, but I'm old enough now to deal with those sort of pressures and that sort of change in environment.

"But it will be tough going back and watching Championship games, thinking 'that was a massive part of your life' for however long it was. Hard to wrestle with but I've chosen to do it and I'm putting full commitment to it."

He added: "I've weighed up all the options but at the end of the day there is nothing guaranteed out of this. I could go over there and do really, really well or no-one might decide to sign me and I'm back to where I was before I went out there.

"I could retire at 40 years of age and look back and say, 'at least I gave it my best shot'."

'From the couch to the Combine'

Smyth won an Ulster Under-20 title with Down in 2021

While Beggan has enjoyed a long and successful inter-county career, Smyth is at the other end of the experience spectrum having only stepped up to senior football over the last couple of years.

But Smyth, an Ulster Under-20 winner with the Mournemen, says he is prepared to leave Gaelic football behind and chase his NFL dream.

"I've been a big NFL fan for the past seven or eight years," said Mayobridge club-man Smyth, who has been training to become a teacher at St Mary's College.

"To think that I can go from watching it on the couch on a Sunday to actually playing in the Combine, and I've actually watched the Combine on TV, so to actually competing in it is unbelievable.

Smyth added: "I feel like I am [good enough]. Based off the training so far, we were in Boston last week and were getting the kick-off and proper markings.

"I feel like the metrics I was putting up, I'm making good strides. I feel like I have the tools to make it and get signed."

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