England captain Harry Kane has revealed that a future in the NFL could be part of his plans once his top-level football career comes to an end, with the Bayern Munich striker also considering a possible spell in Major League Soccer.
Kane said Wednesday that becoming an NFL kicker is an option he intends to explore more seriously later in his career. For now, however, his focus remains on football and completing a new contract with Bayern Munich, which he described as “fairly close” to being finalized.
The 33-year-old is a well-known fan of the New England Patriots and former quarterback Tom Brady. He is also an accomplished golfer with a 2-handicap, although he believes an NFL career would be more achievable than turning professional in golf.
“That is something I will try and look at a bit more seriously,” Kane said at St. George’s Park. “It all depends on what happens in my career over the next five or six years, the motivation and what I want to do. The NFL is a lot more realistic than the golf one, let’s put it that way.”
Kane believes his experience taking penalties could provide some useful preparation for kicking in American football, particularly when dealing with pressure. However, he acknowledged that succeeding in another elite sport would require considerable work.
“I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure and technique,” Kane said. “If I did that, in terms of training, I would be closer to that more than to any other sport. But as I know, with all elite sports, when you watch it on TV, people make it look easy, and you think it is possible, but that is not always the case.
“If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take six months to a year to try and practice before.”
Kane also raised the possibility of combining an eventual MLS spell with his NFL ambitions.
“Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that it might be a thing where you could connect the two, with the seasons,” he said. “But it is in the back of my mind because right now, I am feeling that I want to play as long as I can here.”
After England’s World Cup campaign ended, Kane said he travelled to New York and skipped watching the final.
“I didn’t watch the final,” he said. “I was trying to ignore everything about it.”
Instead, Kane spent his time playing golf.
