Harry Kane plans to pursue a career as an NFL kicker after his soccer career ends, citing the similar technique and pressure between soccer penalty kicks and field goals. The Bayern Munich striker, 33, revealed he would study the transition seriously and commit six months to a year to specific training once he hangs up his soccer boots. Kane joins a distinct group of elite athletes across sports history who crossed over into entirely different professional disciplines.
Harry Kane Targets NFL Kicking Career
Kane outlined his post-soccer ambitions while discussing a potential contract extension with Bayern Munich. The English forward stated that his familiarity with taking penalties gives him a strong foundation for placekicking. “Tiro penaltis y es una presión y una técnica muy similar,” Kane noted of the shared mechanics. Transitioning to professional American football requires mastering a distinct ball and adapting to the extreme demands of the NFL. While no official timeline for his retirement from soccer exists, Kane’s planned six-to-one-year preparation window highlights a deliberate approach to the position change.
Jesús Angoy attempted a similar football-to-gridiron transition in the 1990s. The former Barcelona goalkeeper played for the club under Johan Cruyff before switching sports to become a kicker for the Barcelona Dragons. Unlike Kane’s target of the United States-based NFL, Angoy’s career unfolded primarily within the European professional leagues.
Petr Čech executed a comparable surface change after concluding his soccer career. The veteran goalkeeper won four Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy before transitioning to ice hockey. In 2019, Čech signed as a goaltender for the Guildford Phoenix in the fourth tier of British ice hockey, famously stopping the decisive penalty in his debut shootout.
Dual-Sport Legends in Baseball and Football
Other elite athletes bypassed sequential transitions to compete in two major American sports simultaneously. Bo Jackson starred in both baseball and football at Auburn University, leading to a 1986 draft sequence. Selected first overall by the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jackson declined to sign due to a conflict with the club before being picked by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the MLB draft. Jackson eventually played in the NFL for the Los Angeles Raiders alongside his Major League Baseball career, cementing a multi-sport legacy.
Deion Sanders pushed dual-sport participation even further by maintaining simultaneous careers in the NFL and MLB. Sanders won Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys while playing nine baseball seasons, including a 1992 World Series appearance with the Atlanta Braves. Sanders remains the only player to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
Jim Thorpe established the multi-sport blueprint decades earlier by winning the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Thorpe subsequently played professional football and spent six seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Giants.
Motorsport Multi-Champions
John Surtees achieved a level of multi-disciplinary dominance by capturing world championships across two entirely different forms of motorsport. Surtees secured four 500cc and three 350cc motorcycle world titles before transitioning to four-wheeled racing. In 1964, he won the Formula 1 World Championship with Ferrari. Surtees remains the only pilot to win the motorcycle World Championship and the Formula 1 World Championship.
Salma Paralluelo represents a modern path from individual athletics to team sports. The Spanish athlete won national titles and set records in the 400-meter hurdles in categories inferiores, including a personal best of 57.36 seconds in 2020. Simultaneously excelling in soccer, Paralluelo won under-17 European and World Championships with Spain before injuries and her 2022 transfer to Barcelona finalized her focus on soccer.