NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have decided to let Charlie Smyth, a former Gaelic football player from Northern Ireland, take over place kicking and kickoff duties on Sunday in Miami, when he will make his NFL regular-season debut.
Smyth, who came to the Saints in 2024 as part of the NFL’s International Pathways Program, replaces Blake Grupe, who was cut on Tuesday after his two missed field goal attempts last Sunday raised his total of misses to eight.
Saints special teams coordinator Phil Galiano said Smyth's improvement in kicking an NFL ball since his arrival two offseasons ago is akin to “the difference between red and blue.”
“Never doing it in high school and never doing it in college is really a big deal,” Galiano said.
The 24-year-old Smyth kicked in the preseason in 2024 and 2025, hitting all four attempts this past summer, including two from 50-plus yards. The Saints then sent Smith to Dallas to work with a place-kicking specialist during this season. During practice, Smyth has been observed hitting field goals from 65 yards.
“We wanted to put a developmental plan together for Charlie ... because we think he is a future NFL kicker," Galiano said, noting that although he is confident in his command of special teams generally, he does not have a highly refined understanding of kicking technique.
“We didn’t want him to be here hanging out and not getting better on the practice squad,” Galiano said. "So, that was a plan that we had put together in training camp that we had lined up for the middle of the season.”
This past week, the Saints signed former LSU kicker Cade York, who has previously played in the NFL for Cincinnati, Washington and Cleveland, to their practice squad.
The team then evaluated York and Smyth throughout the week before deciding on Saturday to move Smyth to the active roster. Galiano said they compared each kicker's distance, loft, accuracy and timing from long snap to kick.
The Saints also elevated receiver Dante Pettis from the practice squad to the active roster.
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FILE - New Orleans Saints holder James Burnip, left, places the ball for place kicker Charlie Smyth to make a field goal as Denver Broncos special teams player Quinton Newsome comes in to defend in the second half of an NFL preseason football game Aug. 23, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center was running out of options Friday evening to keep President Donald Trump's name on the facade of the iconic performing arts venue.
A judge earlier in the afternoon rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the Kennedy Center's operations. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.
Scaffolding was erected earlier in the day around a section of the building that includes Trump's name. After a round of storms passed Friday evening, multiple workers were back at the scene further building out the scaffolding in an apparent effort to prepare for removing the letters referencing the president.
After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.
In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.
“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”
Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.
A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
Associated Press journalists Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Workers construct scaffolding at the sign for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers construct scaffolding below the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A worker sits on scaffolding at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
