IT ALL DEPENDS on the robustness of Graham Gano’s hamstring of course but Swatragh’s latest sporting hero, Jude McAtamney, could be in line for his second NFL game this weekend.
The New York Giants are on their travels for Week 10, and McAtamney was on the flight to Munich where they will face the Carolina Panthers.
At 37, Gano hurt himself recently making a tackle, not something that specialist kickers are inclined to do much of.
Without him, McAtamney was pressed into action against the Washington Commanders and kicked a 31-yard field goal in their 27-22 defeat.
It earned him praise on Thursday from the Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial.
“Awesome, man. I was fired up for him,” Ghobrial said.
“A guy that you bring in, and then you as a group start to see the maturation, both as a person understanding the business and then also as a player. Being very convicted in himself of understanding that he belongs in this league, but also having the courage to adapt some things and learn from some veterans to where, when he does get his opportunity, he gets to take advantage of that.”
To some that came across McAtamney on the GAA field, his astonishing rise has been both mesmerising, and yet in some ways, unsurprising.
The current Errigal Ciaran manager Enda McGinley was in charge of Swatragh for a couple of seasons when McAtamney was breaking through. As a Gaelic footballer, certain elements of his skillset stood out.
“He was very strong, athletic and fast,” says McGinley.
“He was very serious about everything he done. He took his own preparation very serious. But his kicking off the ground was his strongest element.
“He would strike through it and it was as clean a strike as you could get. You know that strike that gives you a really true flight of the ball? It never budges right or left. He had it.”
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McGinley added, “That was a memorable feature and maybe within a year of that I heard he was going to the States and when I heard what he was going out to do, it didn’t seem ridiculous.
“It’s amazing what he has done with that opportunity though. A lovely, lovely lad with no airs and graces about him. It’s just brilliant for him.”
As a footballer, McAtamney was something of a late developer. He didn’t make the Derry minor team, and yet he was called into the U20 panel a year later by manager Mickey Donnelly.
Under Donnelly, they won the Ulster title in 2018. In the final, they beat an Armagh team teeming with some of the talent that brought them the All-Ireland title this year including Barry McCambridge, Ross McQuillan, Rian O’Neill, Conor Turbitt and Conor O’Neill.
As impressive as that was, their semi-final win over Donegal was even more so.
Against a side containing Odhran McFadden-Ferry, Peader Mogan, Jason McGee, Conor and Niall O’Donnell and Oisin Gallen, Derry were 2-5 to 0-6 behind before the half hour mark.
What kept Derry in touch was a series of frees – four in all – from McAtamney that were struck beautifully.
“My difficulty was, I didn’t know where to play him. We played him wing-back against Donegal and he kicked five beautiful frees off the ground,” says Donnelly.
“But he had a brilliant strike of the ball. He was very, very dedicated. Very driven. A very coachable young fella who wanted to max out on his abilities.
“Ultimately, because of his coachability, he was very – I wouldn’t say selfish – but assured in terms of being comfortable in his own skin.
“He would speak to you. Not that he was seeking confrontation, but he wanted to know why he wasn’t starting, or why he was taken off.
“I respected that because he wanted feedback and wanted to improve.”
Without anything approaching a precedent though, nobody might have imagined a future for him in one of the richest sports in the world. However, McAtamney’s characteristics stack up.
“In terms of making it at that elite level, I am not surprised. He was totally obsessed with the sport and his desire to succeed was phenomenal. If he wasn’t going to achieve in Gaelic football, he was better honing his unique skillset into something it was better suited,” Donnelly says.
“Before and after training, he was working on his frees, striking all the time, to the point that we knew it was a weapon we could use. He was just superb at it and would keep us in games.”
In action for Derry in 2018. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
While studying in St Mary’s College, McAtamney bought some kicking equipment from eBay and started teaching himself the basics. Making contact with Irish punter David Shanahan brought him on a path through Serbia, Australia and eventually to getting a college place with Chowan University in North Carolina and their team, Chowan Hawks.
He soon switched to Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and gained a place with the Giants through the International Player Pathway programme.
It’s one of those sporting journeys that feels inexplicable. And in some ways, it provokes thoughts of just how many potential athletes would make it big in other sports, what kind of sporting nation Ireland might be, if so many weren’t committed to the GAA.
McGinley, however, has thought deeply about the issue.
“I doubt if there are many sports – and maybe this is coming from a position of ignorance – but I would doubt as many countries has as much coaching input, the regularity of it, the quality, right from when you are six, seven, eight years old,” he says.
“Families are bought in, older and younger brothers and sisters, everyone bought in. There is an immense sporting culture because of the GAA and it is all local to them and they really believe in the hashtag; that they belong to it all.
“So I think that gives a lot of people a huge sporting foundation and means that they can swap codes and push on to other things.
“If it wasn’t there at all, I don’t think we would have anywhere near the same sporting literacy in this country as we can boast of.”
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From Swatragh to the MetLife Stadium - Jude McAtamney's journey
IT ALL DEPENDS on the robustness of Graham Gano’s hamstring of course but Swatragh’s latest sporting hero, Jude McAtamney, could be in line for his second NFL game this weekend.
The New York Giants are on their travels for Week 10, and McAtamney was on the flight to Munich where they will face the Carolina Panthers.
At 37, Gano hurt himself recently making a tackle, not something that specialist kickers are inclined to do much of.
Without him, McAtamney was pressed into action against the Washington Commanders and kicked a 31-yard field goal in their 27-22 defeat.
It earned him praise on Thursday from the Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial.
“Awesome, man. I was fired up for him,” Ghobrial said.
“A guy that you bring in, and then you as a group start to see the maturation, both as a person understanding the business and then also as a player. Being very convicted in himself of understanding that he belongs in this league, but also having the courage to adapt some things and learn from some veterans to where, when he does get his opportunity, he gets to take advantage of that.”
To some that came across McAtamney on the GAA field, his astonishing rise has been both mesmerising, and yet in some ways, unsurprising.
The current Errigal Ciaran manager Enda McGinley was in charge of Swatragh for a couple of seasons when McAtamney was breaking through. As a Gaelic footballer, certain elements of his skillset stood out.
“He was very strong, athletic and fast,” says McGinley.
“He was very serious about everything he done. He took his own preparation very serious. But his kicking off the ground was his strongest element.
McGinley added, “That was a memorable feature and maybe within a year of that I heard he was going to the States and when I heard what he was going out to do, it didn’t seem ridiculous.
“It’s amazing what he has done with that opportunity though. A lovely, lovely lad with no airs and graces about him. It’s just brilliant for him.”
As a footballer, McAtamney was something of a late developer. He didn’t make the Derry minor team, and yet he was called into the U20 panel a year later by manager Mickey Donnelly.
Under Donnelly, they won the Ulster title in 2018. In the final, they beat an Armagh team teeming with some of the talent that brought them the All-Ireland title this year including Barry McCambridge, Ross McQuillan, Rian O’Neill, Conor Turbitt and Conor O’Neill.
As impressive as that was, their semi-final win over Donegal was even more so.
Against a side containing Odhran McFadden-Ferry, Peader Mogan, Jason McGee, Conor and Niall O’Donnell and Oisin Gallen, Derry were 2-5 to 0-6 behind before the half hour mark.
What kept Derry in touch was a series of frees – four in all – from McAtamney that were struck beautifully.
“My difficulty was, I didn’t know where to play him. We played him wing-back against Donegal and he kicked five beautiful frees off the ground,” says Donnelly.
“But he had a brilliant strike of the ball. He was very, very dedicated. Very driven. A very coachable young fella who wanted to max out on his abilities.
“Ultimately, because of his coachability, he was very – I wouldn’t say selfish – but assured in terms of being comfortable in his own skin.
“He would speak to you. Not that he was seeking confrontation, but he wanted to know why he wasn’t starting, or why he was taken off.
“I respected that because he wanted feedback and wanted to improve.”
Without anything approaching a precedent though, nobody might have imagined a future for him in one of the richest sports in the world. However, McAtamney’s characteristics stack up.
“In terms of making it at that elite level, I am not surprised. He was totally obsessed with the sport and his desire to succeed was phenomenal. If he wasn’t going to achieve in Gaelic football, he was better honing his unique skillset into something it was better suited,” Donnelly says.
“Before and after training, he was working on his frees, striking all the time, to the point that we knew it was a weapon we could use. He was just superb at it and would keep us in games.”
While studying in St Mary’s College, McAtamney bought some kicking equipment from eBay and started teaching himself the basics. Making contact with Irish punter David Shanahan brought him on a path through Serbia, Australia and eventually to getting a college place with Chowan University in North Carolina and their team, Chowan Hawks.
He soon switched to Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and gained a place with the Giants through the International Player Pathway programme.
It’s one of those sporting journeys that feels inexplicable. And in some ways, it provokes thoughts of just how many potential athletes would make it big in other sports, what kind of sporting nation Ireland might be, if so many weren’t committed to the GAA.
McGinley, however, has thought deeply about the issue.
“I doubt if there are many sports – and maybe this is coming from a position of ignorance – but I would doubt as many countries has as much coaching input, the regularity of it, the quality, right from when you are six, seven, eight years old,” he says.
“Families are bought in, older and younger brothers and sisters, everyone bought in. There is an immense sporting culture because of the GAA and it is all local to them and they really believe in the hashtag; that they belong to it all.
“So I think that gives a lot of people a huge sporting foundation and means that they can swap codes and push on to other things.
“If it wasn’t there at all, I don’t think we would have anywhere near the same sporting literacy in this country as we can boast of.”
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