John Daly desperately wanted to play in the NFL.
He’s now famous for revolutionizing the game of golf, turning the sport into a high-octane display of power in the 1990s. But in high school and college, Daly was a multisport athlete.
Daly wanted to try his hand at baseball and football, and while he dropped baseball after high school, the American was an incredibly impressive football player.
He won the National Championship as a punter and a placeholder for Missouri State in 1983, and had dreams of playing in the NFL. But winning the 1991 PGA Championship put an end to those hopes.
Why John Daly never made the NFL after winning the PGA Championship
In the same year that Daly won the High School Football National Championship, he also won the Missouri State Amateur Championship. He therefore chose golf as his profession and joined the PGA Tour.
But he still had dreams of playing in the NFL, so Indianapolis Colts coach Ron Meyer made Daly a prospect.
He explained to the Los Angeles Times in 1991, “(Daly) told me last night that if he could get on an NFL field, that would rank right up there with winning the PGA. I’ve talked with his agent and he said he’d be here if he doesn’t make the cut.”
Daly was playing at the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked State Golf Club in Indiana, so he’d have easily been able to make the journey to play in the NFL. Meyer had plans to allow Daly to kick an extra point as the team’s backup kicker.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you view it, Daly didn’t just make the cut at the PGA Championship.
He won the whole event! Spurred on by the disappointment of missing his opportunity in the NFL, Daly had his breakout moment in golf by winning the first of his two majors. Not a bad way to make up for it!
How long the field goal was that John Daly made barefooted
Even though he never got to play in the NFL, Daly proved he’s still got it back in 2023.
At Denver Broncos practice in 1992, he drilled a 50-yard field goal, and 30 years later, he posted a video of him impressively kicking barefoot.
At 57 years old, Daly made a 30-yarder without shoes. Get this man in the NFL!
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