NFL instead of Bundesliga soccer? Harry Kane would like to become an American football kicker in the future. Former NFL kicker Ralf Kleinmann gives his assessment of how realistic this is.

Harry Kane would like to switch sports again at an advanced professional age. The striker envisions a second career as a kicker in the NFL.

“That’s at least something I have in the back of my mind,” he said in an interview with “Sports Illustraded”. “As it gets toward the end of my career in soccer, maybe I’ll look into it a little more and start practicing a little bit. To make it to the highest level in two different sports – soccer and football – would be something very special.”

But is that really realistic?

Former German kicker Ralf Kleinmann, who was temporarily under contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL, can well imagine it. “There were already former professional footballers like Manfred Burgsmüller or Ingo Anderbrügge who were active as kickers in the then NFL Europe. Technically, the requirements in football are slightly different to those in soccer. But if you’ve been trained in soccer, it makes it easier to get started,” he told “web.de. “

Kicking is “85 percent a matter of the head “

“You can definitely learn the technical skills required in kicking,” Kleinmann believes. However, the striker has to get used to the completely different game situation. “You’re up against eleven people who are all trying to block the kick. People used to say that the defenders wanted to get at the kicker. But that’s changed a bit now, because nowadays the defensive players go for the ball and not the kicker.”

Basically, kicking in American football is “85 percent a matter of the head”. However, this shouldn’t be a problem in Kane’s case: “I don’t think a person like Harry Kane will be flustered by the crowd and the pressure. If he is capable of converting a penalty at a European or World Cup, then the man has the necessary composure.”

Kane would also meet all the physical requirements, as Kleinmann explains: “He has a good shot and is not a small footballer, there is a strong body behind the boom in his leg. I could well imagine that.” What’s more, the NFL would probably be interested in luring a superstar like Kane to the NFL for marketing reasons alone: “I could well imagine that an NFL jersey from Harry Kane would sell very well in England. “