Harry Kane has been threatening to become an NFL kicker for years now, ever since old clips emerged of him casually nailing field goals on an indoor pitch, including a 50-yarder that sailed through the posts with room to spare. This week, the Bayern Munich striker brought the idea back up, and this time he went even further, suggesting he might try to combine an NFL kicking career with finishing out his football days in MLS.
Kane, 33, was asked about life after his record-breaking spell at Bayern Munich when the NFL came up again. He said he would continue exploring the move to the United States to become a specialist kicker, and floated the idea of doing both jobs at once.
There is a scheduling problem, though. From the 2027-28 season, MLS will shift its calendar to run from July to May, aligning with Europe's major leagues. The NFL regular season runs from September to January, with the Super Bowl in February. Overlapping the two would be next to impossible once that switch happens.
Kane himself drew a parallel between the two disciplines. "I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure and technique," he 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."
The precedents, good and bad
Kane wouldn't be the first soccer player to try his luck as an NFL kicker. Jesus Angoy went from being a back-up goalkeeper at Barcelona to kicking in NFL Europe. Josh Lambo, once at FC Dallas and capped for the USA at youth level, went back to college as a kicker and ended up playing six NFL seasons with the Chargers, Jaguars and Titans. Current San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddy Pineiro grew up playing soccer and didn't touch an American football until his final year of high school.
Not everyone has made the switch work. Tony Meola, who played 100 times in goal for the USMNT including at the 1994 World Cup, tried out for the New York Jets that same year but was cut after three preseason games.
The most striking modern example is Brandon Aubrey, now the highest-paid kicker in NFL history after signing a four-year, $28 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys in April. Aubrey played as a centre-back for Toronto FC before switching sports at 28.
"It's definitely possible," Aubrey told The Athletic when asked about Kane's ambitions. "It's just there's only 32 jobs. So even if you have the ability, it's trying to get somebody to give you an opportunity. That's what took me the longest. I was training for three years before the USFL popped up. If that never happened, I would still be probably banging my head into the wall trying to get a job in the NFL."
Aubrey, who also used to take penalties in his soccer days, sees a clear link between the two skills. "If you strike a soccer ball a million times, it's going to translate to striking a football," he said. "You have got to figure out where to hit the football and how to shape your foot. The mental aspect of taking a set piece or a penalty is very similar to taking a field goal."
What the experts actually think
Phil Alexander offers one of the more detailed assessments. A former Norwich City defender who switched codes in 1990, he went on to kick for the London Monarchs, helping them win the World Bowl at Wembley before later becoming Crystal Palace's chief executive and now holding the same role at the NFL.
Alexander believes Kane could adapt the mechanics but warns the transition is far from simple. "The mechanics of kicking the ball are fairly similar. You are using the same leg muscles," he said. "But in terms of technique, you need to understand the game. You need to know how to prepare to go onto the field for what is literally seconds."
He also flagged the difference in equipment. "You are used to striking a round ball and someone like Harry has done that exceptionally well," he said. "But with an American football, as well as the shape, it is a lot smaller and the sweet-spot of the ball is smaller, too."
There's also the matter of working with a long snapper and holder under tight time pressure, something Alexander says takes real adjustment. Even so, he thinks Kane has the raw material. "I think Harry could get used to kicking an American football and do it efficiently and effectively," he said. "He is a top professional already and I am sure he is used to the mental side of top level sport and physically he is capable."
Where Alexander is more sceptical is on the idea of doing both jobs simultaneously. "Harry isn't getting any younger so there is the issue of injuries and then you wonder if an NFL team would be prepared to deal with that risk," he said. "I can definitely imagine him being a success in MLS but both? It sounds fanciful."
Taylor Twellman, the former USMNT forward who played American football in high school, is blunter still. "As someone who did this... in high school," he wrote on X, "No chance as a pro." He expanded on that to The Athletic, arguing that kicking looks far simpler than it is. "You have to understand formations and play calls," he said. "It's really interesting to me how many soccer guys think they can kick a football until they go out and actually kick it with linemen in front of them. Kicking a football with 18 to 20 guys in front of you is very different."
