Tottenham star Harry Kane wants to eventually make jump to NFL
Harry Kane is one of the best soccer players in the Premiere League, if not the world.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker won the Golden Boot award in 2017, recording 29 goals in 30 appearances with the club, and finished in second last year behind Mohamed Salah with 30 goals. He helped England reach the semifinals in the World Cup last year, too, and scored six goals in the tournament — the most among any player.
He’s currently tied for the second-most goals scored this season, too, at 17.
The 25-year-old, though, doesn’t want to stick with soccer for his entire career.
Eventually, he wants to make the jump across the pond and take on the other type of football in the world. He wants to kick in the NFL.
“That’s real,” Kane told ESPN. “Something that in 10 or 12 years I definitely want to try.”
Kane’s unlikely friendship with Tom Brady
Kane first discovered New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on YouTube while on loan, and quickly found similarities between Brady’s path to success and his own.
“It was quite a big inspiration," Kane told ESPN. "Not many people thought he'd become that good, or even play in the NFL, and he went on to become the best ever. At the time, it gave me a real boost to say, look, anything is possible. If you have that self-belief and that drive and that hunger, you can do it."
After taking a liking to one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, Kane’s obsession with the NFL quickly grew.
Last month, while sidelined with an injured ankle, Kane even flew to Atlanta for the Patriots’ Super Bowl win against the Los Angeles Rams. After the game, Brady reached out to Kane on social media and invited him to their team party.
"We'd kind of become friends but had never met," Kane told ESPN. "It was a bit strange. I hadn't been a fan of any team since I was young and supporting Tottenham."
Can he actually make the jump to the NFL?
Plenty of kickers across all football leagues in the United States have soccer backgrounds. It would take some practice to get used to the sport, but he likely wouldn’t have much issue with the physical aspect of it.
Kane, though, would be somewhere between 35 and 40 years old when he wants to make the jump to the NFL. While that would put him on the older end of players in the league, kickers generally last significantly longer in the NFL than any other position. Take a look at 46-year-old Adam Vinatieri, for example, who will be returning this fall for his 24th season in the NFL.
Kane, though he could make more money playing soccer at that point in his life than a brief NFL contract, said he’s just an extremely competitive person — which makes the challenge of joining the football world even more appealing.
"It goes back to that drive to be the best," he told ESPN. "Even if I download a game on my phone, can I be the best in the world?"
And, especially if his success continues in the Premier League, successfully making the transition into the NFL would put Kane into an extremely elite class of athletes in the world.
“If you play in the Premier League and the World Cup and you then play in the NFL, would you then be considered one of the greatest sportsmen ever?” Kane wondered.
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