“As someone who did this……..in high school. No chance as a pro.”
That was Taylor Twellman, the former United States international and MLS analyst for Apple TV, posting on X after Harry Kane spoke to reporters at England’s Nations League camp on Wednesday.
Giuseppe Rossi has been even more pointed. The former Italy forward, who spent time in MLS, told Boyle Sports that Kane should drop the plan entirely.
“Listen, there’s one piece of advice I’m going to give Harry Kane (about the NFL): Don’t do it. You just need to get hit once, and you’re done.”
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Rossi said he had once believed he could handle the NFL himself, before two former players talked him out of it.
“You don’t want to get hit by these guys; these guys are monsters.”
“So I hope he stays to play his football and scores a million goals and enjoys himself.”
Kane sees his penalties as preparation
Kane, the England captain and Bayern Munich striker, told reporters at the camp that he is treating the idea seriously.
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“That is something I will try and look at a bit more seriously,” he said.
“The NFL is a lot more realistic than the golf one.”
He pointed to his day job as the closest available preparation.
“I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure and technique.”
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Kane said he would give himself proper time to make the switch.
“If I was to do it, I would take maybe six months to a year of trying to practise beforehand.”
The reference case is Brandon Aubrey, the Dallas Cowboys kicker who was a Toronto FC first-round MLS SuperDraft pick in 2017 before leaving football, later resurfacing as a placekicker in the USFL and then signing with Dallas.
Kane also stressed the move would only be on the table after he stopped playing at the top level.
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“If people know I am still on the top of my game here with football, it is not a conversation that would be had.”
MLS’s 2027 season shift
Kane also floated combining an NFL kicking role with an MLS stint, moving between the two seasons.
“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.
That plan runs into a coming calendar change. The NFL runs from September through February; MLS currently operates from February through December, which leaves some room. From 2027, Sports Illustrated notes, MLS shifts to a late-summer season that will overlap almost entirely with the NFL calendar, leaving no obvious room for the setup Kane described.
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