Harry Kane's obsession with following in the footsteps of these NFL players

F or a long time, Harry Kane has not hidden his American dream. The Bayern Munich striker and England captain has reiterated on several occasions his desire to one day become a kicker in the NFL . "It's always on my mind," the 32-year-old striker confessed. " I know it will take a lot of work ; I don't expect to just come in and start scoring straight away. It would take a lot of practice."

His love for American football was born more than a decade ago, in 2011 , when he watched a documentary about Tom Brady , the legendary quarterback of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since then, Kane became a fan of the New England Patriots , maintains a friendship with Brady and Julian Edelman , two legends of the sport who are already retired, and even attended the Massachusetts team's victory in Atlanta in Super Bowl 2019.

His story would not be unique. Over the years, several footballers have tried their luck in the NFL. Austrian Toni Fritsch paved the way in the 1970s after being discovered by the Dallas Cowboys, even going on to win a Super Bowl. In his wake came names such as Chris Bahr, Obed Ariri, Josh Lambo and Brandon Aubrey, all of whom had a past in soccer and were converted into kickers in American football.

The link between the two sports was born in the 1960s thanks to Pete Gogolak, the pioneer of so-called 'soccer-style kicking', a side-footed kicking style that revolutionized the NFL and allowed players trained in European football or 'soccer' to transfer their technique.

Kane is confident that his experience as a penalty taker (he has converted 96 of the 108 he has taken in his career) will give him a psychological advantage . "Anyone can score in training, but doing it under pressure , with the game on the line, is another story ," he said, comparing taking a penalty in soccer to an NFL kicker's field goal kick.

Even Dustin Colquitt, a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, has offered to coach him: "If he puts his mind to it, he'll do great. He has the mentality and the technique, I would be happy to help him".

With a contract at Bayern until 2027 , Kane still has plenty of time to fulfill his American ambition. If he does eventually make the move, he would join that curious list of footballers who swapped the round ball for the oval ball of the NFL.