Irish lad wins football scolarship

Benedict XVI

On last nights Six One RTE news they had a item about a Roscommon lad getting a football scholarship in the US.

In the intro they said he was going to a top college and the gateway into the NFL

So there i was thinking that he is off to ND, or Ohio State or one of the Michigan's.

But alas not, he is on his way to Division III Mt. Ida in newton, Ma (wealthy Suburb of Boston)

Best of luck to the guy, but i can't see him getting to the NFL from Mt. Ida

here is a report from a few weeks back in the Indo.

Green giant takes leap into American football dreamland
Tools

* Print Print
* Email Email

Search Search Go

By Jason O'Brien
Saturday July 21 2007

ON the American football pitch he is known simply as 'Big Irish'.

Glenn Baker stands at six foot six inches tall, weighs in at 23 stone and, at 20 years of age, is the first Irishman to be signed up to play NCAA college football in the United States, the grooming ground for the money-laden NFL.

The green giant's sporting prowess - he only started playing the game four years ago - must go hand-in-hand with academic achievement if he is to keep progressing to the top.

"I found a college I liked which is Mount Ida [in Massachusetts] and they have a really good computer animation programme through Pixar and they offered me a football scholarship for four years and I also got an academic scholarship," he said yesterday.

"I have to maintain a 3.4 GPA which is an A-minus in all my classes to be eligible to play, but I've never really had a problem with school."

Glenn, who is currently working in a warehouse near his home in Brideswell, Co Roscommon, starts pre-season training early next month with the Mount Ida 'Mustangs' and his course in computer animation and film a little later.

He has already spent two years in the States on different scholarships after first being spotted playing American football from Ireland and Dublin. Last year he started on both the offensive and defensive lines with the Cheshire Cats, who are based in Connecticut, where his coach was the former Colts NFL player Roger Caron.

"He trained hard, played hard and studied hard and he was very popular with both his team and class mates and staff," Mr Caron said.

"We will miss him but we will follow his sports and academic career with interest. He was a wonderful ambassador for his country. Ireland should be as proud of him as we are," he said.

But Glenn is aware that the next four years will see a massive step up in class on the pitch with the Mustangs. "Most freshmen [first years] don't start, but the coaches have said they want me to start so it's a big deal and I have big boots to fill," he said.

"I'm a big guy but nobody knows where it comes from. My dad is six foot and my mom is five and a bit. I always ate vegetables as a kid so I'm saying it's good Irish produce that makes me big." I enjoy it, I enjoy being big.

"I got into lifting in a big way too so I have the physicality and stamina for it so hopefully I'll get there, knuckle down, make a name and see what happens from there."

- Jason O'Brien

tallaghtoutlaws

Glenn "Bubba" Baker have played alongside him. He played for the Cork Admirals and Dublin Dragons in the Irish American Football League.

dulpit

That's pretty class... Fair enough it's a division III school, but still, big step up in quality... Plus the course sounds cool too...

Sea Devils

Thats Class wish him best of luck:)

Lirange

College football has been around for some time and there are many of them. I doubt he's the first Irish born gridiron player at a college in America (as the article claims).

tallaghtoutlaws

Thats reporters for you. The angle they were taking was the born and bred angle someone who was born here and raised here with no help of pee wee or high school football.

There have been "Irish" (Term used loosely) in NCAA football but I bet none of them ever carried Irish passports as they moved to the US with Parents when they were too young to remember. And raised in the American Education system.

I know two guys both moved to NY when they were 8 and 12 both now 16 and 20 and one is in high the other in a D2 college. But they moved over and like most Irish moved into the Irish community and played Gaelic football. They will tell you the Irish there dont generally play American Sports they play Soccer or Gaelic Football if in the Boston/NY areas.

Benedict XVI

Lirange wrote:

College football has been around for some time and there are many of them. I doubt he's the first Irish born gridiron player at a college in America (as the article claims).

I recall a guy on the Late Late Show back in about 1984 that was a kicker for some team. I think it was a NFL team but cannot be sure. then again he may have only been a backup

If I recall he was a former Shamrock Rovers soccer player.

Anyone remember who he was ?

bobby wade

Benedict XVI wrote:

I recall a guy on the Late Late Show back in about 1984 that was a kicker for some team. I think it was a NFL team but cannot be sure. then again he may have only been a backup

If I recall he was a former Shamrock Rovers soccer player.

Anyone remember who he was ?

Neil O donoghue kicked for the Cards & Bucs

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/players.nsf/ID/05890097

you've also Duncan O Mahony who kicked in the CFL but he moved over there when he was a child

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

tallaghtoutlaws

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Yup some are good enough and strong enough to pay at that age with us we have 3 16 years old and 4 17 year olds

jdivision

If you're over 16 you're able to play senior football. One of the top offensive tackles in Ireland just turned 18 I think this year. He plays for Belfast Bulls and is 6'5 and around 22 stone. From playing against him and seeing stuff on youtube his drive blocking skills are excellent but his pass protection needs a bit more work. Still would get noticed by scouts if he got a chance I'd say. Tallaght's guys are quite small compared to some of the other teams but plenty of room to grow into the linemen positions:)

dulpit

I can't imagine that too many parents would be overly happy if their 16 or 17 year old comes home to say he's become an OL for a fully kitted football team...


I know the QB of the Admirals (Cork ftw!) he's always banjaxed after a big game, can't imagine the linemen would be in a better condition...


Edit: Is there an upper age for the IAFL? Or is it a case of when the body gives up? Just that you could end up with a 16 year old facing up against a 30 something, seems kinda wrong or something...

tallaghtoutlaws

dulpit wrote:

Edit: Is there an upper age for the IAFL? Or is it a case of when the body gives up? Just that you could end up with a 16 year old facing up against a 30 something, seems kinda wrong or something...

16 upwards and most teams have sense not to play guys who would not stand up against your average adult. At the same time we make our Under 18 guys sign waiver forms signed by both parents that they understand the risk involved.

dulpit wrote:

I can't imagine that too many parents would be overly happy if their 16 or 17 year old comes home to say he's become an OL for a fully kitted football team...


I know the QB of the Admirals (Cork ftw!) he's always banjaxed after a big game, can't imagine the linemen would be in a better condition...

As for the this comment is just plain ridiculous. Rugby players can gain the same injuries. The risks involved in both sports are minimal when the rules and safety measures are thought correctly. And any 16 or 17 year old that tells his parents he is an OL must be pretty big to even start as a lineman and in my opinion would be well capable of holding his own.

As a lineman yes we pick up small niggly injuries but they are rare the most you get after one game is tired muscles a few bruises and a couple of cuts. Same with any sport really. The worst injuries linemen get as they use their knees alot would be Ligament or cartilidge damage but again keepin fit solves this.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

dulpit

tallaghtoutlaws wrote:

As for the this comment is just plain ridiculous. Rugby players can gain the same injuries. The risks involved in both sports are minimal when the rules and safety measures are thought correctly. And any 16 or 17 year old that tells his parents he is an OL must be pretty big to even start as a lineman and in my opinion would be well capable of holding his own.

I'm not saying that it's a bad thing young people playing, just can't imagine that many parents would be ecstatic about it...

I would presume (I don't know) a young fella walking in off street, no matter what size, wouldn't be thrown into a starting role for quite some time, to learn technique etc. ?

tallaghtoutlaws

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

And I agree with alot of what you are saying. What I would like see happen which alot of people want is a junior league as in 16-18 year olds full contact. Once they hit 19 then they should have enough experience to try take on adults and learned from the fact they need to develop their bodies to suit the game.

dulpit

Well i suppose if you compare it to rugby, most players work through the ranks, so once the reach senior level, even if they're like 17 or 18, they still have plenty of experience...


Whereas in the IAFL there's nothing really, is there?

tallaghtoutlaws

dulpit wrote:

Well i suppose if you compare it to rugby, most players work through the ranks, so once the reach senior level, even if they're like 17 or 18, they still have plenty of experience...


Whereas in the IAFL there's nothing really, is there?

Nope and there needs to be.

For now the best way we can develop the sport is to go flag from ages 12-16 then Junior Contact 16-18 and Senior 18-upwards.

The Junior will hopefully kick off in the next 12 months. As for contact below 16 alot of red tape would have to be unravelled first.

I will be taking my full team to Sweden next year hopefully to get our junior guys competing in a tourny even if they get slaughtered and finish last it is more experience for them. But we need to develop coaching and players needs to suit.

jdivision

dulpit wrote:

I would presume (I don't know) a young fella walking in off street, no matter what size, wouldn't be thrown into a starting role for quite some time, to learn technique etc. ?

You're hardly going to put an 11 stone guy who's never trained before into pads and ask him to block a 22 stone defensive tackle. Rookies are put into positions that suit their body type, as they get older and bigger they can change position as it suits. Teams who take on a lot of rookies each year - DCU, Tallaght, UL and presumably Maynooth next year - typically starting training in November (or sometimes before that) in order to train people up for games in April. The coaches are extremely conscious of safety. Technique is extremely important in AF and you need to be taught from the very basics. Stance, body placement, hand use, how to combat various lineman moves etc all have to be drilled in.
Cork's QB is huge by this league's standards and he gets most of his bangs because they take advantage of that to QB sneak a lot in short yardage situations. He wouldn't pick up as much damage otherwise. Good QB though.

jdivision

dulpit wrote:

Well i suppose if you compare it to rugby, most players work through the ranks, so once the reach senior level, even if they're like 17 or 18, they still have plenty of experience...


Whereas in the IAFL there's nothing really, is there?

Most guys have probably played rugby and therefore have some contact experience. There's a lot of differences between the games - including tackling technique - but it gives guys a head start. The usual route is flag, train with an AF team for a year or two and then move towards being a starter. You'd rarely get many starting linemen under 18. Other than Tallaght, and in fairness their young guys had been trained well, I can't think of any team with one. Dragons had one young kid alright but think he was over 18. Can't think of another team with one because I think Belfast's are all 18 now. Belfast's line are all 18-19 and 6'4 plus and 19 stone plus. They're more than big enough to play.