There are only 32 roster spots in the NFL and they are among the most pressurized roles in all of sports.
New York Giants place kicker Jude McAtamney has always had a big boot on him. But it’s a long way from Davitt Park in Swatragh to MetLife Stadium in “the Big Apple.” McAtamney (26) – the youngest of seven boys – recently became the first Irish-born player to start an NFL game since Neil O’Donnell did so 39 years ago (1986) for the St. Louis Cardinals. This is a great source of pride for the McAtamaney family.
“There’s a good handful of us,” says Jude’s older brother Conor, the former Derry senior who recently flew out with his brother Gary to watch Jude kick for the Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles. “There’s John, Mark, Gary, me in the middle, Paul, Niall, Ciara – and Jude is the little one of the house.
“From a young age he would have shown he had a big kick on him from the dead ball. As soon as he was on the seniors (Swatragh) he was hitting a lot of frees and 45s for us. He would have been walking and caressing them. A lot of yards on them afterwards, where if one of us was going to hit him we would have had to give him everything we have and he would have just gone over the bar.
“He had the ability to hit the ball very well. He obviously thought that one day I should go and make the most of that talent. He did.”
From a kicking school in Australia to Chowan High School in North Carolina, to New Jersey college major Rutgers and finally the Giants, McAtamney has been at it for over five years now. There are only 32 roster spots in the NFL and they are among the most pressurized roles in all of sports.
McAtamney kicked off in the 34-17 victory over the current Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, at Met Life Stadium last week, hitting four more shots on goal. The Giants will face the Broncos tomorrow night in Denver.
McAtamney got his opportunity when regular kicker Graham Gano was injured, but it wasn’t that easy. Former Derry Under-20s McAtamney has had competition after the Giants signed experienced former Atlanta Falcon Younghoe Koo and they have been battling it out in training.
When McAtamney was elevated from the practice squad three times to play in NFL games, he had to be placed on the 53-man roster in order to be eligible to play again.
“The last three weeks have been nerve-racking,” says Conor McAtamney (31), who joined straight into the Derry senior team at 18 and played until 2020. “When Graham got injured we realised: ‘This man is going to be called up here.’ This was not the case. It wasn’t that simple. Jude had a very good pre-season. He was 100% on all his kicks and he was kicking well in training.
“Then he had to prove himself competitively throughout the week against your other guy. He did well and got a spot. The whole thing was nerve-wracking because obviously you’re waiting for him to play and then we’re waiting all week to see how things go and see if he plays.
“Then when he comes on the field, it’s funny, the camera turns to Jude and he’s hitting the ball. There’s a tiny bit of nerves. He’s hitting well so I think those nerves aren’t as bad as before. You almost fear the worst, but to be honest he’s got everything under control and he’s hitting well. We’re getting to the stage where we like to see him now.”
The reality is that field goal kickers have to prove themselves from the start and every step of the way. Proven kickers at the top of the game can earn more than €5 million a year, but you have to keep hitting the target. Training squad players earn between €190,000 and €330,000 per year.
But when players are on the list, as McAtamaney was recently, the minimum salary is €720,000 per year. It’s a very lucrative business but the pressure is intense.
“So far he’s done really well, but at the same time he’s not going to finish his career without missing kicks,” says Conor. “Nobody does that. But the most important thing in the NFL and in professional sports is you have to move on to the next one. Bouncing back and not letting yourself get affected, which he’s done very well so far.
“It’s more of a permanent position that he has now compared to two weeks ago, but at the same time it doesn’t guarantee you anything. It’s professional sports. You still have to go out and perform. If he goes out and performs and does his job, he’ll probably be there for a while. It’s like everything. It’s scrutinized. Training is scrutinized. Games are scrutinized.
“There’s not much room for error. You can easily get knocked out, cut and someone else takes your place. It’s a good position he’s in now. He’ll be able to establish himself as the primary kicker, but the caveat is you have to perform.
“If the Giants feel he’s no longer doing the job for them, they can cut him and he can be picked up by someone else. It’s as cutthroat as that. He has the contract but that doesn’t mean they have to keep him.”
Conor and Gary McAtamney spent some time with their brother after the Eagles game.
“He’s relatively calm about it all and to be fair to him, he seems to be taking it all in stride,” Conor explains. “But I guess he has visions to put in place and do exactly what he’s doing. He’s just going out and doing it now. He’s not that nervous about it, I don’t really think.
“At the end of the day, it’s his job and he goes out and does his job and that’s it. In those positions, I don’t think you can think about anything else. We can make all the noise here at home and the fans can make all the noise, but at the end of the day he has a job to do and those are kick points and nothing else changes. He’s pretty grounded there and knows exactly what he has to do.
“You never know what can happen in the NFL. Things can change very, very quickly. If he’s there and he does the job, they tend to hang on to you and there will be plenty of other opportunities.”
