Harry Kane, a surprising possibility for the future: the striker himself admits it

Harry Kane might decide, once his time with Bayern Munich comes to an end, to switch sports and take up American football, while continuing to play soccer in the North American MLS: The English striker himself admitted this in an interview with “The Athletic,” describing as realistic the possibility of donning a helmet and pads for one of the 32 franchises in the National Football League, without ruling out continuing his soccer career at the same time.

A lifelong fan of NFL football—so much so that he became a spokesperson for the league’s games played in Europe—Kane didn’t mince words: “It’s an option I’ll consider carefully, but it’s certainly on the horizon,” he said. “It will definitely depend on what happens over the next five or six years and on my motivations. I can already say, though, that football is a more realistic option than golf.”

“Maybe if I ended up in MLS and managed to balance the two, that would be great,” added Kane, who turned 33 on July 28. In any case, it’s something that’s just on my mind for now; after all, I’m happy where I am right now and want to stay in Monaco as long as I can.”

In American football, it’s not uncommon for players to come from other sports: Gavin Hastings, one of Scotland’s greatest rugby players of the 1980s and 1990s, played one season for the Scottish Claymores in the now-defunct NFL Europe, winning the World Bowl in 1996, while Sav Rocca, an Australian football star, built a brilliant career as a punter, playing in the NFL for four seasons in Philadelphia and three years in Washington.

In the United States itself, the transition from soccer to American football is not at all uncommon: to give a recent example, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion, represented Georgia Tech University in NCAA soccer tournaments before switching to American football.