“I JUST BURST OUT CRYING WITH PRIDE”

Roughly 20 months after signing with the Saints, Smyth became the team’s kicker after it parted ways with Blake Grupe, who missed eight of 26 field goal attempts this season. Smyth informed his family on Nov. 28, two days before his debut against Miami. He reached his mother, Julie, before he could tell Leo, who was at work for a plumbing supplies company.

“I was serving a customer at the time when Charlie rang through,” Leo said. “I said, ‘Charlie, I can’t talk. I’ll give you a ring back in five minutes.’ I went up about a half-mile from where I work and I pulled the car on the side by the church.

“I rang him back and to be honest when he said, ‘I’m playing Sunday,’ I just burst out crying with pride. I just welled up. It was just an amazing feeling.”

After a 23-hour trip that included a snow delay in Chicago, Leo, Julie and their two daughters arrived in Miami (Leo and Julie were seated in row 39, which is Charlie’s jersey number), went to their hotel and arrived at the stadium in time for kickoff. They were joined by Charlie’s girlfriend and her family, and Leader.

New Orleans trailed 16-0 at halftime and there was concern Charlie wouldn’t have an opportunity to attempt a field goal, given that the Saints needed two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to tie. But with 6:13 remaining, the Saints facing fourth-and-7 at the Dolphins 37-yard line and the deficit at 19-8, Coach Kellen Moore sent Charlie out to attempt his first field goal.

Charlie nailed it, on a 56-yard kick that had plenty of leg to spare.

“I actually preferred a longer field goal for him than a (point-after attempt),” Wood said. “Because I know he wants to show off that leg, and I know he’s got it. He loves the long ones. When it was a longer field goal, I was like, ‘All right, I know Charle’s got this one.’

“I was more nervous for myself because it was Charlie’s first kick. I was like, ‘I cannot screw this snap up and ruin this thing for him.’ I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well for Charlie and give him the best opportunity to make his kick, and he drilled it. It was awesome.”

Smyth, too, preferred to kick a long one.

“I think trying to help the team in a moment where we needed points, and it ended up being a long field goal, that’s kind of a moment like, ‘Let’s go,'” he said. “This is a chance to help the team.”

He said he wasn’t nervous.

“Because of the coaches and the front office, what we did throughout the week — the kicking against other guys. You find out a lot about yourself,” Smyth said. “You learn to just really focus on yourself. I was like, the work’s done, the preparation is done and I felt super excited. Just ready to go for Sunday.”

He’ll be just as ready this Sunday because in the NFL, today’s feel-good story easily can become tomorrow’s not-feeling-so-good story.

“You earn your keep in this league by being money 55 (yards) and in, so that’s really where the priorities are and that’s where most of my practice kicks come,” Smyth said. “You can’t take any kick for granted, because you’re one kick away from hurting the team in a big spot. This league is tough, and it’s tough to stay in it. You have to make sure you’re money every time you go out there.”

In New Orleans, Charlie is money. The well wishes poured in from Ireland, including from other pro athletes, and he became even more recognizable in his new hometown.

“Whenever people are supporting you it’s nice, but you can’t get too caught up in that,” he said. “It’s unreal and I’m really grateful for all the support here in New Orleans and at home, but you’re one kick away from hurting the team and then you’re not as popular. So I just want to make sure that I’m just covering my bases, and the kicking is the No. 1 priority.

“But I love it here, I love the city. It feels like home here in America. It’s like, I’ve got Ireland and I’ve got New Orleans. Mayobridge and New Orleans. That’s the way it feels here. This city has treated me really well. This organization has been great, the head coach (Moore) and (special teams coordinator) Phil (Galiano) allowing me to go get some coaching during the season. Even just seeing me in the first place, when I had no football experience prior. I owe everything to this organization and I just want to make sure this keeps going.”

Regardless of accent, everyone clearly understands that.