Updated: 11:03 p.m. EDT, Sept. 6, 2023
Eddie McGuire’s son Joe could soon be kicking a ball in front of 100,000 die-hard football fans – but he won’t be playing the sport that made his father a household name.
Instead of Aussie Rules, the talented athlete has secured a place as a punter with Ohio State University – one of America’s premier collegiate gridiron teams with eight national championships under his belt.
The team known as the Buckeyes plays at Ohio Stadium, which is larger than MCG and has a capacity of nearly 103,000 fans.
McGuire, who is reported by the team at 188 cm and 106 kg, was brought on board in July to replace fellow Australian Jesse Mirco and is next on the starting lineup when the Buckeyes take on Youngstown State this Saturday.
Joe McGuire (pictured with dad Eddie in 2019) could soon be playing football in front of more than 100,000 fans
McGuire (pictured) was selected as a player by the Ohio State Buckeyes, one of the premier teams in American college football
The news of his making the squad was greeted with warm congratulations from Prokick Australia, who are launching Australia into the NFL and college football with a hugely successful program that has been running since 2007.
Joe – previously spotted on the red carpet with his famous father, mother Carla and brother Alexander – was often photographed on Collingwood’s Strip attending games with Eddie as a young boy.
Since then he has proven himself to be very adept at another of Australia’s favorite sports.
He made headlines in Melbourne in February last year after scoring a hat-trick with his last three throws while playing for Heatherhill Cricket Club, finishing with five wickets for just ten runs.
As a token of his interest in Gridiron, McGuire informed the team that he would not be available for the following weekend’s game as he was traveling to California to watch the Super Bowl.
McGuire was brought into the team by AFL legend Dermott Brereton, who joked that he had left his privileged surroundings to play at the team’s home base in the notorious Melbourne suburb of Frankston.
“Young Joe is the first Heatherill cricketer to ever come to the game and catch an Uber from Toorak to Baxter No. 7.” “We thought Ed might send the chopper but no, he’s got an Uber,” Brereton said , before branding McGuire a “damn fine bowler.”
Although Joe was in the AFL with his famous dad from a young age (pictured), his kicking skills took him far from Collingwood
McGuire also proved to be a very skilled cricketer when he scored a hat-trick after being recruited by football legend Dermott Brereton
“He was about to run into a bowl and someone on Sages Road decided to pull off a road pretty quickly, went sideways and there was an almighty skidding noise – and young Joe said, ‘What’s that?’
“I said, ‘Sorry mate, you’re not used to the noise around Georges Road in Toorak.’
“But he loves it, he had a lot of fun with the boys and they really liked him because he’s such a lovely young man.”
“I can’t praise him enough and he bowled fairly well without claiming a scalp.”
If Prokick’s success with fellow Australians is any indication, McGuire has a good chance of making his career a success in the US.
The organization boasts of having helped 190 athletes earn lucrative full scholarships to US colleges, with six of its alumni winning the Ray Guy Award for College Punter of the Year and 15 of their kicker contracts in either the NFL or Canada’s CFL completed.
