Who knew a middling soccer player would make a great football Special Teams addition? In a pleasant plot twist, the same skills that couldn’t help him fulfill his soccer dreams helped him set records in football. On Sunday Night Live, he brought his soccer kicking game to the gridiron and helped the Cowboys secure an early lead against the Los Angeles Rams.

With the rookie challenging veterans in just his first year, what more does he have left to show? His story shows how we may not always get what we want, but that may not be a bad thing. Will he help the Cowboys scoop up 3s and 1s as he kicks his way to the U-post?

Brandon Aubrey kicks his way to football glory

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed 4 extra points in the playoff game against the Tampa Buccaneers in January. The Cowboys won nonetheless, but the win would have been made sweeter by the extra margin. The Cowboys knew they needed a new kicker for the next season. And Special Teams Coach John Fassel flew down to Alabama to check out a newbie soccer-turned-football player he had heard of.

Less than a month later, Brandon Aubrey officially wore Cowboys colors on a three-year deal. In his latest game against the Los Angeles Rams, the 28-year-old set a personal record with a 58-yard field goal. The kick also found its place as the third longest, behind his predecessor, Brett Maher’s 62- and 59-yard kicks in 2018.

Within his first year of joining the Cowboys, the kicker came close to breaking a veteran’s record. And it wouldn’t be much later when he would set the franchise record under his name. So, how is he so good with his legs? Turns out it is because of his past stint as a soccer player.

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Brandon Aubrey goes from kicking leather ball to pigskin

Growing up in Texas, he was surrounded by friends who were football fans. But the young Aubrey saw soccer dreams. He wanted to be Thierry Henry, the Arsenal star (1999-2007) and a World Cup winner with France in 1998. “He was the best player, a lot of fun to watch,” Aubrey told ESPN. As a child, he imagined himself winning the World Cup, but fate had other plans for him.

Aubrey played college soccer at Notre Dame, winning a national championship during his freshman year. During the MLS Draft of 2017, he was picked by Toronto FC as the team’s first-round pick. That came with its own expectations that he couldn’t match up to. After playing just two seasons, while he and his wife were watching an NFL match, she turned around and told him, “You could do that.”

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And the rest is history. He started to practice kicking pigskin instead of the round leather soccer football and eventually found his way into the Dallas Cowboys. “We’re just sitting there, and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m really a Dallas Cowboy right now,'” Aubrey said. “Just took the moment there to really let it sink in.”

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