An NFL player had a big moment at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday and was asked about the former Spurs star’s plans.
Cam Little had a day to remember at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and gave his endorsement to England captain Harry Kane, who is following in his footsteps in the NFL.
Spurs and England’s record goalscorer Kane has always made it clear that he wants to be an NFL player when he finally hangs up his football boots. The Bayern Munich striker and Ballon d’Or favorite loves the sport from across the Atlantic and only last month reiterated his future plans.
“It’s something I’m going to try and take a little more seriously. It depends on what happens in my career in the next five or six years, my motivation and what I want to do,” the 33-year-old said. “The NFL is more real than the game of golf, let’s put it that way.
“I take penalties and it’s a very similar pressure, technique. If I did that, I’d be closer in terms of training than any other sport. But as I know with all elite sports, when you watch it on TV, people make it look easy, you think it’s possible, but it’s not always the case.
“If I did, I would take it seriously. I used to take six months to a year to train.”
The idea of combining the sports has crossed Kane’s mind, he added: “Maybe in the future if I’m in MLS or somewhere like that, it could be something where you can connect the two seasons. But again, it’s on the back of my mind because right now I feel like I want to play here as long as I can.
“I think sometimes it’s easy, when you get to my age, when you get to 33, you start thinking about retirement or the future, but I’m trying to take everything I can in the last two, five or 10 years, I’ll keep going.”
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Kane had many big moments during his Spurs days at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and its predecessor, White Hart Lane, and Jacksonville Jaguars forward Little had his own big moment there on Sunday.
The 23-year-old kicked a field goal in the final second of regulation time against the Philadelphia Eagles to seal a dramatic 19-17 win for the designated host in the second of two NFL London Games this year at the N17.
Little, who holds the longest two-goal streak in NFL history, is a huge Manchester United fan and arrived at the post-match press conference in north London wearing a United shirt with Cristiano Ronaldo’s name emblazoned on the back. He celebrated Jude Bellingham’s winning touchdown with his usual celebration and asked about England teammate Kane’s NFL hopes.
“His technique is obviously unreal in football. I’d like to see him score a field goal. You get more opportunities in football. You think about how much he gets on the ball as a forward, whether it’s keeping the ball or trying to score,” the NFL star said. “There’s only so many opportunities you get as a hitter, so I think it would be tougher mentally. But he’s obviously played at the highest level so he knows how to handle that pressure. So that would be pretty cool.”
“The 92nd minute, bad,” the goalkeeper told a news conference about Dominic Solanke’s late equalizer at Old Trafford last night.
Little admitted that playing at Tottenham’s home was a dream and scoring the winner on a Premier League ground was the biggest moment of his career.
“One hundred percent [it’s the coolest moment in my career]. One hundred percent. as [longest kick] the record was great and everything, but it still hurts because you don’t think I wake up every Saturday morning and watch the Premier League, every Saturday and then I wake up to play 5-16 football. [American] I played football until I was almost 17 years old. So my whole life until then was football,” he said.
“So to do it in this stadium, to play professional football even though I’ve played professional football, I’ve achieved my goal. It’s great. It’s the first in my entire career, not counting overtime, of course, but it’s the first away game I’ve scored in my entire career.
Despite his admiration for Kane and his remarkable year, when asked who should win the Ballon d’Or, the Jaguars forward couldn’t look at a particular World Cup-winning Barcelona star.
“God, it’s hard to argue with Lamine [Yamal]. He is such a level player. He’s just so good. What do you think a 17, 18 year old does. If he stays on the road, he’ll be better than you know who he is [Ronaldo]. I’m not talking about him wearing this jersey,” he said.
Little made the transition from soccer to American football as a youngster and was asked what he would say to other young players looking to make the transition.
“I would say it’s such a results-driven industry. Some guys are worried about technique. You have to perfect your technique because that’s what can make you repeat,” he said. “That’s why the best in the world are very good at what they do, but it’s a results-based thing. Guys often try to hit the perfect ball every time and that’s far from the truth.
“Especially in the NFL, kids trying to go to college or try to go to the NFL from rugby, Australian rules football or Gaelic football will give you opportunities. Coaches never care about the half – they’ll care how it looks because there’s something repetitive about it, but they don’t care what the ball looks like at one point. That’s the most important thing.”
He added, “I think when kids are trying to make that transition, they get so attached that guys trying to make college lists for scholarships in America, hitting the perfect ball every time, they’re very attracted to it.
“But as long as I’m hitting, that’s what matters. If I elbow the post or hit a dead ball up the middle, it shows up on the stat sheet. Obviously, hitting it up the middle gives you a little bit more confidence going into the next game, but it’s a results-based industry. Just get the yellow ball up.”