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. "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. 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.

Source: BBC January 18, 2024 21:11 UTC