Ireland players spotted hob-nobbing with NFL top dog at Steelers game

Ireland internationals Caelan Doris and Bundee Aki were spotted in the thick of the action as the NFL staged its first regular-season game in Ireland, with the Leinster and Connacht men seen hobnobbing in the corporate boxes at Croke Park.

Doris was pictured deep in conversation with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during Sunday’s clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings, while Aki – fresh from the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia – also mingled on his far side.

The Steelers edged the Vikings 24-21 in front of 74,512 fans in Dublin, marking the NFL’s long-awaited return to the ground following a pre-season fixture in 1997.

The presence of Ireland players will inevitably spark speculation, particularly given the recent wave of rugby talent dipping a toe in American football. Louis Rees-Zammit only recently returned from a short NFL stint with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars to join Bristol Bears, while Wallabies star Jordan Petaia signed for Perpignan earlier this month after his own, even shorter, experiment with the LA Chargers was cut short by injury.

Could Doris follow suit? The answer is almost certainly no – but with the 27-year-old Ireland captain missing the Lions tour through injury and not expected back in blue until late October, the sight of him chatting with Goodell might fuel fanciful whispers. Aki, meanwhile, is firmly beyond the point of any cross-code detour.

Ireland captain Caelan Doris reporting 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Hq3cSvA6V8

— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) September 28, 2025

Also present in the same Croke Park box was none other than Riverdance creator Michael Flatley, who added another touch of theatre to an already surreal afternoon of GAA-meets-gridiron spectacle.

Former NFL player Jason Kelce, brother of Travis Kelce of Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs fame, was also on the ground, seen sporting an Ireland rugby jersey.

For the record, Pittsburgh surged into a 21-6 lead before Minnesota staged a late rally, but the Steelers held on to seal a famous Dublin win for the Rooney family, the franchise’s Irish-American owners who have long championed the NFL’s supposed ties with the island.