Former Buccaneers player chasing the American football dream

Having worked with thousands of young people in the Athlone area over the years, rugby coach Charlie Couper has seen it all. So when Andy Quinn joined the Buccaneers underage setup several years ago, one feature of his game immediately stood out to Charlie.

“He had a tremendous kick, even then,” said the local coach. “He was long and skinny, for rugby, but he’s filled out a bit now. He could always kick the ball a remarkably long way - you could definitely see that in him.”

And that potent kick has taken the 20-year-old all the way to the United States, where he has just completed his first year of a full scholarship as a punter with the Boston College American football team.

College football in America is a multi-billion dollar industry. The Boston College stadium, with a 45,000 capacity, is small in comparison with those in other universities. The head coach of Andy’s team, Bill O’Brien, was previously head coach of the NFL’s Houston Texans for six years, and is believed to earn around $5 million a year in his current role.

After flying home for Christmas, Andy chatted to the Westmeath Independent about his sporting journey to date and his long-term goal of making it as punter in the NFL.

A son of Kathy (née Minnock) and Niall Quinn, Andy has family connections across the Midlands. He grew up in his father’s native Creggs, in East Galway, while his mother is from Ballycumber in Offaly. His uncle, Vincent Minnock, has served in recent years as chairman of Ballycumber GAA Club.

Attending secondary school in Blackrock College, Andy set his sights on becoming a rugby player with Connacht, and joined the Buccaneers under-16s in Athlone.

“Coming down to Buccs’ for rugby with Charlie Couper was a great experience, and I loved it. It started at under-16 level, which was interrupted by Covid, and then at under-17s we had a good cup campaign and we went to the league and cup final.

“I got to learn a lot about myself and my athletic ambitions through that under-17 Buccaneers team with Charlie. During that under-17s year I was in Transition Year as well, and I did a bit of coaching with the club for work experience.

“We went down to Roscrea, and went to a few primary schools as well, to do a bit of coaching. Charlie is a very likeable coach and he gives you that opportunity to listen and learn from him.”

Andy’s connection with American football began in 2022 when he attended an college football game between Northwestern and Nebraska in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Andy took part in a half-time kicking challenge at the game and ended up winning a trip to the US as a result.

“That really started it all. I was literally pulled out of the stands, kicked three field goals from 45 yards out, and won flights to go see a Northwestern college football game in Chicago.”

A video clip of his half-time kicking performance in Dublin was shared on Twitter and started a chain of events which led to Andy spending his final year of secondary school in England at the NFL Academy.

“The Academy basically finds sort-of freakish athletes and turns them into American football players so that they can get scholarships,” he explained.

“I was still sort of hesitant about going to America, even when I was at the Academy, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and, in a worst case scenario, it was a bit of a distraction from the Leaving Cert! I was doing the two simultaneously.”

The Academy was based in Loughborough University, near Leicester. “Every morning I was training next to Daniel Wiffen, the Irish swimmer,” said Andy. “A lot of the Leicester Tigers rugby players were training there, and Team GB’s Olympic team is based in Loughborough University, so it’s a high-performance environment.”

Andy’s speciality as an American football player is punting - driving the ball down the field to ensure the opposing team starts their offensive drive as far back as possible. He also fulfilled kick-off duties for Boston College this season, but on the team he doesn’t kick field goals (equivalent to penalties in rugby) or extra points after a touchdown (equivalent to conversions in rugby).

Charlie Smyth, a former GAA player from Down, recently made headlines when he became the starting kicker of field goals and extra points for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.

“Charlie Smyth and a lot of the Irish lads are going over as field goal kickers, because they kicked 45s (in Gaelic football),” said Andy. “But when I went to the NFL Academy they identified me as having extremely long levers, and my height is six-foot-four. That makes it easier for me to become a top-class punter than a top-class field goal kicker.

“When I was at the Academy they said if you want to go to the NFL you’d be better off putting all your eggs in one basket and becoming a punter. It’s a role that involves less game-winning moments, and things like that, but if I can get a career out of running onto the field and gaining territory for my team I’ll happily do it.”

In May of 2024 he went to a major American kicking camp in Philadelphia, which is where he came to the attention of college football recruiters.

“At these camps they rank every single punter and kicker, from 1 to 800. That event really helped me, because there I was ranked as the fourth-best punter in the United States, and the twelfth-best kicker.”

He was subsequently recruited by Boston College and at the end of August his first season there began with a home win against Fordham University.

Going into that game, there was a mixture of excitement and nerves. “I had a lot of family there - my mum and dad were in the crowd. It was also a home opener for a very optimistic season.

“That was my first experience of a college football game - going to the hotel, having a police escort to the hotel and back from the hotel, having parts of the hotel shut off for us. It took a bit of getting used to, because I was used to going to a game in the car with my dad, and him giving me a bit of a pep talk!

“Walking into the dressing room and seeing your jersey hung up with your name and number on it is a pretty cool sight to see.

“I remember my first kick, which was really good, it went 75 yards down the field, but I don’t remember any feeling beforehand. You were in what some people say is a ‘flow state’ where you block out everything and just go and do what you’ve been practising to do for the previous nine months.

“As the season went on, I was getting more and more comfortable in this new sport,” he said.

In Boston he and three of his teammates share an apartment which is about a five-minute walk from the campus. His daily routine begins at 5am.

“We start our footballing day at 5am, and we finish at 12 noon,” he said. “In that time you’ll get treatment, have meetings, video analysis, and you go to practice for two hours. You get breakfast before your meetings, and lunch after practice.”

He is in the business school at Boston College, studying for a degree in finance, and the academic part of his day begins in the afternoon.

“When 12 o’clock hits, it’s a complete transition. Classes start at 1pm, you have about three classes a day, and then study halls and tutoring sessions that the football team give you to help boost your grades. So you could be there until 7pm, and then you go home.”

He said service to others is also a key component of his experience at Boston College.

“The motto of Boston College is ‘men and women for others’, so that’s a big part of the football team,” he said. “We have a campus school on site for kids with mental and physical disabilities, so every week a group of footballers will go down to the campus school and volunteer our time to spend with the kids there.

“They’ll often come out to our practices, and coach O’Brien has a big affiliation to the campus school because his son has a disability as well. So you’re getting good life experience in being able to interact and add something to someone else’s day.

“It makes you understand how unimportant football really is in the grand scheme of things. And all year long, we’re doing different fundraisers.

“Just recently we went to (department store) Target and raised money to buy Christmas gifts for kids. We managed to get enough for a full Santa Christmas list for 68 kids - we raised nearly $5,500. So giving back to the community is a big thing at Boston College.”

He will be back in Massachusetts around January 9 to continue his training and studying regimen, even though the football season is now over for Boston College and doesn’t resume until September, and said he’s enjoying every minute of it so far.

In the longer-term, when he comes out of college in three years’ time, he’s hoping he’ll be able to earn a role as a punter in the NFL, one of the biggest professional leagues in all of sports.

“I’ve been given all the God-given abilities and, coming out of high school I was identified (as a punter) so in my own head if I don’t make it, it’s because of something I haven’t done. It’s because of me not turning over every stone I can.

“If I really want to go to the NFL it’s within my physical capabilities - I just have to put all the pieces together to actually do it. That’s the outlook I have on it at the minute.

“I just have to have good attention to detail and be focused and dialled-in for the next three years, to make that dream a reality,” he concluded.