Ex-GAA player Jude McAtamney's NFL debut for New York Giants greeted with enthusiasm in native village of Swatragh in Co Londonderry
The Co Londonderry village of Swatragh was glued to its televisions on Sunday as one of their own made his debut for the New York Giants American football team.
Jude McAtamney's NFL debut for the New York Giants was greeted with huge enthusiasm in his native village, east of Dungiven.
The 24-year-old ended up on the losing side as Washington Commanders secured a 27-22 win in front of over 80,000 spectators at the the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
However the former GAA player landed both his kicks and has become the first Irish-born placekicker to feature in a regular season NFL game since 1985.
In 2018, Jude McAtamney was just one of thousands of young Gaelic footballers dreaming of making it to the very top of that sport.
The Swatragh youngster would go on to lift the Ulster Under-20s title with his native Derry and looked poised for a career in inter-county football.
But three years later, his aspirations for a life in elite sport brought him across the Atlantic Ocean to the American college football system at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
McAtamney's former teacher at Swatragh Primary school, Dermot McEldowney was among those who wacthed in the contest at Friel's Bar & Restaurant in the village.
"Jude is a member of a very talented sporting family and it’s no surprise to me that he has actually made it,” he told the BBC.
"I didn’t know he would be kicking for the Giants but I knew at some stage along the line, Jude would make it in some sort of sport because he was very talented."