Harry Kane captained England at World Cups and European Championships, winning league titles with Bayern Munich as well as numerous individual awards. He still has a lot to achieve in football, but the star striker has a unique way to end his professional career.
Kane, speaking to reporters while on international duty with England on Wednesday, said there is a possibility he could one day play in MLS while also serving as a player for an NFL team.
“It’s something I’m going to try and take a little more seriously,” Kane said, via The Athletic . “It all depends on what happens in my career over the next five or six years, motivation and what I want to do. The NFL is more real than the game of golf, let’s put it that way.”
The idea of Harry Kane making it to the NFL is nothing new for the 2026 Ballon d’Or candidate. In 2019, he told ESPN’s Bruce Schoenfeld that he would like to try it in “10 or 12 years.”
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Kane, who turns 33 in July, is eager to play at the highest level he can. He scored 61 goals in all competitions for Bayern Munich last season, helping the German club to their second straight Bundesliga title, as well as the German Cup and Super Cup.
Harry Kane, a member of the England team, scored his team’s third goal from the penalty spot in the 1/8 finals match of the FIFA World Cup held at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
(Bradley Collyer – PA Images via Getty Images)
But while he’s still at the peak of his powers, Kane sees a day when playing in MLS might suit him, allowing him to follow Deion Sanders’ route to becoming a two-sport star.
“Maybe in the future if I’m in MLS or somewhere like that, it could be something where you can link the two to seasons,” Kane said. “But it’s in the back of my mind because right now I feel like I want to play as long as I can here.”
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Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Brandon Aubrey is an example of a kick turned football player.
Aubrey played college soccer at Notre Dame and was selected in the first round by Toronto FC in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. After being out of football since 2018, Aubrey began working on pitching before being drafted by the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2022. A year later, he was signed by the Cowboys.
Kane said the spot-kick uses a similar technique and provides the same pressure as a penalty kick in soccer.
“If I did, I would be closer to it in terms of training than I would be in other sports,” Kane said. “But as I know, with all elite sports, when you watch it on TV, people make it look easy and you think it’s possible, but it’s not always the case. If I did it, I’d take it seriously. I’d spend six months to a year trying and training beforehand.”
Kane, who said he is “close enough” to a new contract with Bayern Munich, has not yet specified the final years of his career. But he has already started thinking about what will happen next.
“I think sometimes it’s easy to get to my age, 33, and you start thinking about retirement or the future, but I’m trying to get everything I can out of the last two, five or 10 years, I’m going to keep going.”