The second half of the Saints' preseason opener belonged to UDFA Charlie Smyth, but outside of a few kickoffs he spent the majority of it pacing the sidelines, unsure if his moment would come.
He knew his family was up watching the game back home, even though the preseason tilt with the Cardinals kicked off at about 2 a.m. in his native Ireland. His moment did come in the end as he ran onto the field with less than 10 seconds remaining and the chance to give his team the lead on a 37-yard field goal. The rookie calmly split the uprights then celebrated the moment like he should've given the scenario. It wasn't just his first field goal attempt in the NFL, it was his first kick ever in an American football game.
"I mean, to have that … first ever game for a game-winner is just the stuff of dreams," Smyth told me on the field after the game.
It'd been less than a year -- 354 days to be exact -- since Smyth kicked an American football for the first time through the NFL's new international pathway program. He came up as a Gaelic Football player, and he's routinely shown off the extreme power in his right leg. He's still dialing in things a bit, but we saw him hit from 66 yards with room to spare in pregame warmups. Head coach Dennis Allen said if it came down to it in that scenario the Saints would've attempted a kick from 60, but rookie Spencer Rattler managed to take some tension off that moment by driving into a far-more manageable range.
Interestingly, it was a very similar scenario to the Saints' preseason opener a year ago, with Jake Haener at QB and Blake Grupe getting on the field for a 31-yard game-winner to mark his first NFL kick.
“To have it as basically a game-winner, it was obviously added a bit more tension to it, but I was just saying to myself just trust my process … and everything else will take care of itself," Smyth said. "Everything I was dealing with, just thinking about what I can control."
As the kick soared through the goalposts, Smyth turned to holder Matthew Hayball and celebrated with a level of energy you'd expect from a kick to win a playoff game. The rest of his team joined in on the same level, because they understood what that moment meant for their young teammate. The team could also be heard blaring music from Irish rock band U2 in the locker room during their postgame celebration.
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"To go out there and kick a game-winner, even though it’s preseason, like, who cares, that’s something he’ll remember forever," Carr said. "That’s pretty awesome.”
The Saints are back to practice on Sunday afternoon in Irvine before an off day on Monday, and Smyth will continue to compete for the Saints kicking job with Grupe. The incumbent kicker knocked through a pair of short field goals in the first half and handled the lone PAT attempt early in the second half.