Harry Kane seriously targets unlikely NFL career after football

Harry Kane is determined to stay at the top of football for as long as possible, but the England captain is already planning for life beyond the sport, with an NFL kicking career firmly on his radar.

The 33-year-old is among the leading contenders for the prestigious award next month after scoring an eye-watering 73 goals for club and country during a remarkable season that ended with England winning World Cup bronze.

Kane’s hunger for success remains undiminished as he looks ahead to the Nations League and England’s pursuit of Euro 2028 glory, but the Bayern Munich striker continues to keep one eye on a potential career in American football.

His hopes of becoming a professional golfer, meanwhile, appear to be fading with every trip to the course.

“It’s something I will try and look at a bit more seriously,” Kane said of becoming an NFL kicker. “It all depends on what happens in my career over the next five or six years, the motivation and what I want to do.

“The NFL is a lot more realistic than the golf one, let’s put it that way.”

Kane could take inspiration from Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top kickers after switching from football. Aubrey previously played for MLS side Toronto FC before making the move to American football.

Clive Allen also tried his hand at it with the London Monarchs in NFL Europe, and Kane, an even more prolific former Tottenham striker, believes his penalty-taking prowess could help him split the uprights.

“I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure, technique,” he said. “If I did that, in terms of training, I would be closer to that more 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 is possible, but that is not always the case.

“If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take maybe six months to a year of trying to practice before.”

Kane said he has not been approached by an NFL franchise about a move, nor would he consider such a switch anytime soon.

“Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that, it might be a thing where you could connect the two, maybe with the seasons,” he said.

“But, again, it is in the back of my mind because right now I am feeling that I want to play as long as I can here.

“I think sometimes it is easy, you get to my age, 33, you start thinking about retirement or the future, but I am trying to extract everything I can from the last two, five or 10 years. I will keep going.”

Kane is loving life in Germany and confirmed an announcement on a new deal with Bayern is “fairly close” as they iron out the remaining details.

The striker has established himself as one of the world’s best with the Bundesliga champions and could soon become England’s first Ballon d’Or winner since Michael Owen in 2001.

“From my point of view, it would be unbelievable to win it,” Kane said. “I’d be extremely proud to win it.

“I think I’m definitely in the running to win it, without a doubt, so time will tell. The voters will vote for who they want.

“It makes me more proud when other people talk about me, when other teammates or ex-players or whoever it is, people who compliment me on what I achieved. I think that makes me more proud than me trying to talk about it myself.”

DAILYSABAH