Georgia Tech is playing a game an ocean away, but David Shanahan is punting for a home crowd
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Harry Lyles Jr., ESPN Staff Writer
The Week 0 matchup between Georgia Tech and Florida State at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, is a neutral site game for everybody on both teams — except for Yellow Jackets punter David Shanahan.
Shanahan is from Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland, and is believed to be the first Ireland native ever awarded a full scholarship to play American college football. On Aug. 24, he’ll have the opportunity to play in his home country.
“I’m excited for the kid to have an opportunity to go home,” Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said. “It’s exciting anytime any kid gets to go back to their home, especially when it’s far away from here.”
When he got to Georgia Tech, Shanahan — now a senior — thought there was a remote possibility that he’d be able to play a game in Ireland, but figured the odds would be slim given that Georgia Tech already played in Ireland in 2016. But during spring ball in 2022, Shanahan recalled Key calling him over during practice and asking him “cryptic” questions about Ireland.
“Usually he’s over the O-line shouting at them somewhere. He’s not really having a conversation midpractice,” he said. “I kind of caught on to it after a while because I knew the game was coming up and I knew they hadn’t announced a fixture for 2024. But eventually he told me, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty sick.'”
Shanahan walked a winding path to American college football. Growing up, rugby and Gaelic football were his main sports. He compared the passion that people in Ireland have for Gaelic football to the passion people have in the United States for American football.
“When you’re 15, you’re training really hard, you’re in the gym really hard,” he said. “I’m from Kerry, so every town in Kerry will have their own club, and then the best guys in their club will get to play for their county. So I was playing for the county underage squads.”
Shanahan was a member of the Kerry U17 Gaelic football “panel” that won the 2017 Munster championship (Gaelic football’s national title) at the U17 level. But as he approached adulthood, Shanahan’s passion for the game waned, and he began looking for a new challenge.
“There wasn’t a lot of adventure there, I thought. Because I say, ‘Alright, best-case scenario, I’ll just grow up and play for Kerry and never really leave my hometown’ or whatever. That’s something that didn’t really excite me that much.”
Instead, he got into American football. Enough of the mechanics he’d already learned were applicable to the American game that Shanahan believed that he could make the jump. “Obviously the skill set translated,” he said. “I tried my hand at kicking for a bit, but it just didn’t really come as naturally as punting did. But even saying that, punting was really hard, it took me a while to actually get good, get consistent at it.”
Shanahan realized there were steps he needed to take in order to reach his full potential. That’s where he gives a lot of credit to his parents, Jack and Eliza, for trusting him to take a leap of faith.
“I was 18 years old, and I was like, ‘Hey guys, I want to move to Australia, the other side of the world, go to this place in the suburbs of Melbourne, punt footballs for a year to try and get a scholarship to America.'”
In the past decade or so, Australia has emerged as the unlikely home for many of football’s best punters. That’s largely because of Prokick Australia in Melbourne, an academy founded in 2007 by Nathan Chapman, an Australian rules footballer who played in three preseason games for the Green Bay Packers in 2004. Prokick has produced six of the past seven Ray Guy Award winners and four current NFL punters. Shanahan felt that if he wanted to break into high-level American football, he had to go across the world in a different direction first.
“I worked, I saved up money and stuff. But for [my parents] to agree to that and fully support me is probably something that gets glossed over a little bit, just how much of a commitment that was from them — as much as me — to have their youngest son moving halfway across the world to some country they’ve never been before, doing something they know nothing about.”
Shanahan worked on his family’s farm, at his dad’s pharmacy, took money he had previously saved from past birthdays, his First Communion and his confirmation, and used it all to move to Melbourne at the end of August in 2019. But he was eventually forced to go back to Ireland to quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shanahan, his brother Rob and his parents were together at their house for quarantine. They turned their shed into a gym, where the brothers would work out. Once they were done in the shed, David and Rob would walk 20 minutes behind their house to their farm, kick for 2.5 hours and go back home.
“Honestly, I had a great time during COVID,” he said.
While he was honing his skills on the farm, the team at Prokick was trying to find a landing spot for Shanahan. He compared the process to the ordering of a pizza.
“Coach rings them up, he tells them, ‘We want a guy that can do this, this and this.’ And then they take a look at their group of guys and [see] which guy would fit here. So they come up to you and say, ‘Hey, this school is interested in finding someone. Would you be interested in going here if they give you a scholarship?’ And if you say yes, and they give you a scholarship, that’s where you’re going. There’s no going back.”
Shanahan said they were talking to a couple of ACC schools, and then one Tuesday morning, he woke up to a text from Prokick coach John Smith.
“He’s like, ‘Hey we’re jumping on a Zoom with Georgia Tech tomorrow. I’m sure you’d be interested in going here?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
“Then they sent them all of my film, and then I woke up to a text probably three or four days later, and it’s like, ‘You’re committed to Georgia Tech.’ It happened pretty quick.”
Shanahan announced his commitment to Tech on May 15, 2020. He was supposed to arrive in Atlanta in January of 2021, but because of the added COVID year, he was told there wouldn’t be any scholarships open until May.
He wanted to still continue to work at his craft in the meantime, but he couldn’t go back to Australia because of COVID restrictions. Shanahan’s coaches at Prokick recommended he go see Tom Hackett — a two-time Ray Guy Award winner and Prokick alum — in Utah to continue to grow. Shanahan made the journey to Utah, worked on his game and eventually ended up in Atlanta. He played his first American football game for the Yellow Jackets against Northern Illinois on Sept. 4, 2021.
It was an accomplishment just to make it onto the field, but Shanahan still had growing to do, especially when it came to understanding the game and situational punting.
“That was definitely an adjustment,” he said. “I can always sit back and boot a football, but it’s probably more situational stuff, knowing like when the rush is coming, when you just got to get it off, when you’re backed up in the end zone you got to shorten your steps, and the pooch punting.
“Obviously, a lot of that situational stuff, I definitely was not good at it as a freshman, and I would just go out there and kind of swing my leg and hope for the best. But that’s something that’s come out of experience, and coaches have been really good at helping me with all that. But I feel like I pretty much have it all down now. I’ve been doing it for long enough.”
The adjustments on the field are important, and Key emphasized that’s not something for anyone to gloss over in Shanahan’s journey. But Key also praised Shanahan for adjusting to everything off the field as well.
“To make the transition to live here, the transition academically, he never looked back, and it was never anything that was a struggle for him,” Key said. “Other than his accent, he plays right into everyone else.”
The Aer Lingus College Football Classic will be the first time that Shanahan’s family has been together for one of his games. Each player was given two tickets for family and friends, but Shanahan was able to get some from his teammates, and his dad purchased 20 additional tickets to give the family what Shanahan estimated to be at least 40 total seats.
Along with his excitement for having his family in attendance, Shanahan is hoping to introduce his teammates to local breakfast.
“It’s blood pudding,” he said. “You may mistake it for sausage, but it’s not really sausage. Coach Key hated it. I asked our nutritionist yesterday, ‘We’re having the pudding aren’t we?’ And she’s like, ‘Coach Key said he absolutely does not want to see that.’ I was like, ‘What are we doing here?’ But I’m going to sneak some blood pudding in.”
“He can introduce them all they want,” Key said. “I’m staying away from it. I’ll take my eggs and my grits.”
That’s fine. Shanahan has some less objectionable things he’d like to show his teammates and coaches, too: “There’s a couple of bars in Dublin that I’d love to take them to if we win.”
The San Francisco Giants acquired three-time All-Star Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in a stunning trade that sent a player Boston once considered a franchise cornerstone to a San Francisco team needing an offensive infusion.
Boston received left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League right-hander Jose Bello.
The Red Sox announced the deal Sunday evening.
The Giants will cover the remainder of Devers’ contract, which runs through 2033 and will pay him more than $250 million, sources told ESPN.
The trade ends the fractured relationship between Devers and the Red Sox that had degraded since spring training, when Devers balked at moving off third base — the position where he had spent his whole career — after the signing of free agent Alex Bregman. The Red Sox gave no forewarning to Devers, who expressed frustration before relenting and agreeing to be their designated hitter.
After a season-ending injury to first baseman Triston Casas in early May, the Red Sox asked Devers to move to first base. Devers declined, suggesting the front office “should do their jobs” and find another player after the organization told him during spring training he would be the DH for the remainder of the season. The day after Devers’ comments, Red Sox owner John Henry, president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City, where Boston was playing, to talk with Devers.
In the weeks since, Devers’ refusal to play first led to internal tension and helped facilitate the deal, sources said.
San Francisco pounced — and added a force to an offense that ranks 15th in runs scored in Major League Baseball. Devers, 28, is hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs, tied for the third most in MLB. Over his nine-year career, Devers is hitting .279/.349/.509 with 215 home runs and 696 RBIs in 1,053 games.
Boston believed enough in Devers to give him a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension in January 2023. He rewarded the Red Sox with a Silver Slugger Award that season and made his third All-Star team in 2024.
Whether he slots in at designated hitter or first base with San Francisco — the Giants signed Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million deal last year — is unknown. But San Francisco sought Devers more for his bat, one that immediately makes the Giants — who are fighting for National League West supremacy with the Los Angeles Dodgers — a better team.
To do so, the Giants gave a package of young talent and took on the contract that multiple teams’ models had as underwater.
Harrison, 23, is the prize of the deal, particularly for a Red Sox team replete with young hitting talent but starving for young pitching. Once considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Harrison has shuttled between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento this season.
Harrison, who was scratched from a planned start against the Dodgers on Sunday night, has a 4.48 ERA over 182⅔ innings since debuting with the Giants in 2023. He has struck out 178, walked 62 and allowed 30 home runs. The Red Sox optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester after the trade was announced.
Hicks, 28, who has toggled between starter and reliever since signing with the Giants for four years and $44 million before the 2024 season, is on the injured list because of right toe inflammation. One of the hardest-throwing pitchers in baseball, Hicks has a 6.47 ERA over 48⅔ innings this season. He could join the Red Sox’s ailing bullpen, which Breslow has sought to upgrade.
Tibbs, 22, was selected by the Giants with the 13th pick in last year’s draft out of Florida State. A 6-foot, 200-pound corner outfielder, Tibbs has spent the season at High-A, where he has hit .245/.377/.480 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs in 56 games. Scouts laud his command of the strike zone — he has 41 walks and 45 strikeouts in 252 plate appearances — but question whether his swing will translate at higher levels.
Bello, 20, has spent the season as a reliever for the Giants’ Rookie League affiliate. In 18 innings, he has struck out 28 and walked three while posting a 2.00 ERA.
The deal is the latest in which Boston shipped a player central to the franchise.
Boston traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, just more than a year after leading Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series title and winning the American League MVP Award.
Devers was part of that World Series-winning team in 2018 and led the Red Sox in RBIs each season from 2020 to 2024, garnering AL MVP votes across each of the past four years. Devers had been with the Red Sox since 2013, when he signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He debuted four years later at age 20.
Boston is banking on its young talent to replace Devers’ production. The Red Sox regularly play four rookies — infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Carlos Narvaez — and infielder Franklin Arias and outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia are expected to contribute in the coming years.
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Alden Gonzalez
Shohei Ohtani will make his long-awaited return to pitching on Monday night in a matchup against the division-rival San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced.
Ohtani, 21 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, will be used as an opener, likely throwing one inning. Because of his two-way designation, Ohtani qualifies as an extra pitcher on the roster, giving the Dodgers the flexibility to use a piggyback starter behind him.
That is essentially what will take place in his first handful of starts — a byproduct of the progress Ohtani has made in the late stages of his pitching rehab.
Ohtani, 30, initially seemed to be progressing toward a return some time around August. But he made a major step during his third simulated game from San Diego’s Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three simulated innings and compiling six strikeouts against a couple of low-level minor leaguers.
Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could return before the All-Star break. When he met with reporters prior to Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants — an eventual 5-4 victory — Roberts said it was a “possibility” Ohtani could pitch after just one more simulated game.
After the game, Roberts indicated the timeline might have been pushed even further, telling reporters it was a “high possibility” Ohtani would pitch in a big league game this week as an opener, likely during the upcoming four-game series against the Padres.
“He’s ready to pitch in a big league game,” Roberts told reporters. “He let us know.”
If you’re just getting back home from your Father’s Day activities, you had better sit down, because Sunday evening’s Boston Red Sox–San Francisco Giants trade is a doozy.
Rafael Devers, second among third basemen and seventh among hitters in fantasy points this season, is headed to the Giants, traded minutes before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boston’s return includes pitchers Kyle Harrison, who was the Giants’ scheduled starting pitcher Sunday night (subsequently scratched), pitcher Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and pitching prospect Jose Bello.
Expect Devers to continue to serve in a designated hitter-only capacity with his new team, considering his season-long stance, which is primarily an issue for his position eligibility for 2026. He might factor as the Giants’ future first baseman if given a full offseason to prepare for the shift to a new position — or it could happen sooner if he has a change of heart in his new environment.
As for the impact on Devers’ numbers, the move from Fenway Park to Oracle Park represents one of the steepest downgrades in terms of park factors, specifically run production and extra-base hits. With its close-proximity Green Monster in left field, Fenway Park is a much better environment for doubles and runs scored, Statcast reflecting that it’s 22% and 10% better than league average in those categories, respectively, compared with 8% worse and only 2% above par for Oracle Park.
Devers is a prime-age 28, with a contract averaging a relatively reasonable $31.8 million over the next eight seasons, and he’s leaving a Red Sox team where his defensive positioning — he has played all but six of his career defensive innings at third base — was a manner of much debate, to go to a team that has one of baseball’s best defensive third basemen in Matt Chapman (once he’s healthy following a hand injury). Devers’ unwillingness to play first base probably played a big part in his ultimately being traded, and it’s worth pointing out that one of the positions where the Giants are weakest is, well, also first base.
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Perez: Devers gives Giants a ‘really good offense’
Eduardo Perez, David Cone and Karl Ravech react to the Giants acquiring star 3B Rafael Devers from the Red Sox.
Devers’ raw power is immense, as he has greater than 95th percentile barrel and hard-hit rates this season. He has been in that tier or better in the latter in each of the past three seasons as well. He’s at a 33-homer (and 34 per 162 games) pace since the beginning of 2021, so the slugger should continue to homer at a similar rate regardless of his surroundings. He should easily snap the Giants’ drought of 30-homer hitters, which dates back to Barry Bonds in 2004. Devers’ fantasy value might slip slightly, mostly due to the park’s impact on his runs scored and RBIs, but he’ll remain a top-four fantasy third baseman.
If you play in an NL-only league, Devers is an open-the-wallet free agent target. He’s worth a maximum bid, considering he brings a similar ability to stars you might invest in come the July trade deadline, except in this case you’ll get an extra month and a half’s production.
Harrison is an intriguing pickup for the Red Sox, though in a disappointing development, he was immediately optioned to Triple-A Worcester. A top-25 overall prospect as recently as two years ago, Harrison’s spike in average fastball velocity this season (95.1 mph, up from 92.5) could be a signal of better things ahead. Once recalled to Fenway Park, his fantasy prospects would take a hit, as that’s a venue that isn’t forgiving to fly ball-oriented lefties, but he’d be a matchups option nevertheless.
Expect Hicks to serve in setup relief for his new team, though he’d at best be fourth in the Red Sox’s pecking order for saves.
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