Brought to you by Kelly
With an Irish player in the squad, it makes sense that footballers would give GAA a try.
As the Irish look forward to the return of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, all eyes are on Georgia Tech star punter David Shanahan. He is the first Irishman to receive a full American football scholarship to play football at the collegiate level. To celebrate his soon to return to Irish shores for a match, Air his Lingus, his college football and proud partner of his Classics, Kelly, will be joined by David to team-mate Gaelic, his first sporting love. We filmed his training sessions to introduce him to football.
The video celebrates David's expected return to Irish soil later this year, when his team will take on Florida State University at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Saturday, August 24th. More than 25,000 international visitors are expected to attend a great weekend of sports, and more than 4 million people are expected to watch his live coverage of the event on ESPN.
David grew up playing Gaelic football and played on the Kerry 2017 minor panel. With a solid background in sports, it was natural for him to have an American football teammate. Gavin Stewart, KJ Wallace, Ramiles Brooks, Billy Ward – I took the test during my visit to Castle Island. Their immersion in Gaelic football began with solo kicking sessions, before getting used to hand passes. The GAA experience culminated in a sudden-death round in which David himself defended a trainee's shot from goal.
During the session, David seemed to be enjoying being a GAA taskmaster and seriously upped the ante in sudden death. However, he ended up in a beautiful and surprising loss at the hands of one of his teammates.
Watch the video below to see how American football players did it.
To fuel up for the session, the players were treated to quality Irish food and drinks courtesy of the Kerry Group. Just as David is proud of his sporting career, the Kelly Group is creating a world of sustainable nutrition, making tastier, healthier and better food for the global food and beverage industry. We take great pride in creating more sustainable products.
To purchase tickets for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, click the link here.
