FROM the humble beginnings of Swatagh, Co Derry, to the heights of the New York football Giants, Jude McAtamney has had quite a journey.
McAtamney made the move to professional sports on Monday when he signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent.
The NFL Draft concluded on Sunday, but McAtamney did not declare for the draft and therefore was unable to be selected, leaving him open to offers from any team.
Even if he had declared himself a draft candidate, it is generally unlikely that special teams players would be selected among the 257 picks in the draft, with teams preferring to wait until free agency to pick up the “legs”.
McAtamaney will now join Brian Daboll’s New York Giants, currently based in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Giants already have a punter in Scotsman Jamie Gillan, who is six years ahead of the Derry man.
-McAtamney was a promising prospect for the Oak Leafers, as a young free-taker for the Derry U20s when they won the Ulster title in 2018.
Jude McAtamney’s family is steeped in football. One of his six older brothers, Conor, played for Derry and retired in 2021.
He took inspiration from Kerry’s David Shanahan, who joined Georgia Tech to play as a punter for the Yellow Jackets.
McAtamney went to play for Rutgers University, also based in New Jersey, where he played in a total of 25 games before going through the free agent process.
In addition to playing with Rutgers, he was also skilled at kick placements, which proves to be a desirable transferable skill from Gaelic football to American football, with the former Michael Davitt player recording a success rate of 63 percent on field goals and averaged 60.5 yards on kickoffs for the Scarlet Knights.
Swatragh will join Charlie Smyth, who the New Orleans Saints signed on March 29, and Daniel Whelan, who signed for the Green Bay Packers last year as the NFL’s Irish contingent goes from zero to three in 12 months.
