If there is one pleasure that often bonds athletes from across different spectrums, it’s a long walk on a golf course. The popularity of swinging a club outside of heavy training sessions is often a release for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, it offers a pleasant walk without risk of being tackled. Although that walk may be spoiled by a hook, a slice or a missed putt, it invariably offers a good chance to play with teammates and talk about anything other than the pressures of a physical combative sport.
Professional athletes have an advantage in being able to transfer the coordination of their own elite pursuit into the world of golf as it requires huge concentration, which comes naturally for those under the heat of the camera every week. Moreover, golf is generally an injury-free activity and it can offer a safe pursuit over a long period to NFL players. Taking on another combat sport in their own leisure time would merely increase or aggravate niggles and might even be contrary to their contracts. Once upon a time, John Brodie, former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers joined the PGA Tour after retirement.
The pressure release golf offers has certainly attracted a whole host of NFL players. Patrick Mahomes started when his father would take him to the course and the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback plans his off-season around the game. It shows in his handicap which is now reported to be below eight. His drives have reached almost 350 yards which is perhaps not surprising for a man who can throw the ball through the eye of a needle under severe pressure. NFL playoff odds would suggest that the golden arm can lead the Chiefs to a third straight shot at the big game in 2025.
Mahomes has paired up with Kansas teammate Travis Kelce in “The Match” celebrity tournament beating Steph Curry and Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors. Now there’s a fourball full of quality which would cause a ripple among fans of NBA and NFL
Ryan Succop of the Tennessee Titans has form as a placekicker but also has starred from an early age at golf. He won a state championship in golf at his high school in North Carolina. He also has inside information on reading courses. Succop caddied for Wesley Bryan, who won the 2017 Heritage Classic at Harbour Town. They have been close buddies since they both attended the University of South Carolina. Succop won the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2009 and is as much of a scratch golfer as any active NFL player although former teammate Brett Kern is even better.
It’s one thing to caddy in a tournament, but Jake Eliott has actually played in a proper one, the 2022 Philadelphia Open Championship which was formerly a PGA tour event. The Philly Eagles placekicker carded below 80 but missed the cut. Even so, the Super Bowl-winning player has spoken of the similarities in mechanics between launching a field goal and swinging the club in terms of rotation. It didn’t do any harm that he grew up in the City of Brotherly Love which has so many historic and world-class golf courses. Elliott managed to reach out to a mainstream audience by putting together a captivating one-minute compilation of impressive trick shots during the COVID pandemic too. Is there anything this man can’t do?
Golf is notorious for providing some of the oldest elite winners in professional sport, such as Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters and Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 event. The legendary Aaron Rodgers is now in his 41st year and is still putting it all out there for the New York Jets. He is also famous for sinking a beauty of a putt alongside fellow fortysomething Tom Brady when they beat Josh Allen and Mahomes in “The Match” in 2022. The PGA Tour posted a photo of Rodgers after he had sunk a hole-in-one at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas in his first round after surgery – the best always have a cheat code somewhere in their armoury!
Ultimately, the game of golf has a huge attraction to the NFL stars of today and yesterday. The bone-crunching physical challenge of the season needs the highest levels of power, speed and footwork with marginal decision-making time. Golf offers the leisurely 19th hole refuge, but is still direct competition which has enough of a competitive edge. A nine-iron will continue to fill in for Gridiron when the pros have a chance for some downtime.
