Harry Kane Open to NFL Kicking Career After Soccer, Says Idea Is Serious

The England captain said a future move to MLS could let him attempt placekicking in the NFL, calling it more realistic than golf.

Harry Kane said Wednesday that he may pursue a future in the NFL as a placekicker once his soccer career winds down. Speaking to reporters while with the England squad, the striker said the idea is realistic if his path eventually leads to MLS, since the two league calendars could overlap in a workable way.

"That is something I will try and look at a bit more seriously," Kane said, according to The Athletic. He noted that any move would hinge on how the next five or six years of his career unfold. Comparing his post-soccer options, he said the NFL is "a lot more realistic than the golf one."

The notion is not a new one. Kane told ESPN's Bruce Schoenfeld in 2019 that he wanted to try kicking in 10 or 12 years. Now 33, he remains focused on top-level soccer after scoring 61 goals across all competitions last season as Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga again, along with the German Cup and Supercup.

A precedent exists in Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, a former Notre Dame college soccer player who was drafted by Toronto FC in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. After leaving soccer in 2018, Aubrey trained as a kicker, joined the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL in 2022, and signed with Dallas a year later.

Kane said placekicking shares technical and pressure elements with penalty taking, and that he would commit six months to a year of dedicated practice if he ever pursued it seriously. He added that he is "fairly close" to a new Bayern contract and intends to keep playing at the highest level for as long as possible.