OXNARD, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys were on the wrong side of football history in last year’s playoff win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Placekicker Brett Maher missed four extra points, the most ever in a single NFL game.
Understandably, the battle for the kicking position is wide open in this year’s training camp.
“I think you got two really good young prospects that had different journeys, which I like. There has been adversity for them to overcome, which is definitely part of that skill set," head coach Mike McCarthy said.
But what are the odds that 28-year-old rookie Brandon Aubrey would have a shot to land the job?
He hadn’t kicked since middle school before joining the United States Football League (USFL) a couple of years ago.
John Fassel, Cowboys' special teams coordinator, thinks there is a lot of upside to the rookie.
"He just got a little late at the start which could be a negative but also could be a positive. He’s kind of a fresh piece of clay and there’s not a lot of thread on the tires," Fassel said.
Aubrey said he clearly understands what’s ahead of him
"It’s a once and a lifetime opportunity, especially in my situation to be given an opportunity to compete on any NFL franchise," Aubrey told WFAA.
Aubrey’s sport of choice since high school wasn’t football, at least not American football. “I played soccer, basketball, baseball and football growing up, as you get older you kinda have to make some choices I ultimately landed on soccer," he said.
He earned a scholarship to play collegiately at Notre Dame, and his timing couldn’t have been better.
"My freshman year I was lucky enough to be a part of a team that won the first national championship for that program," he said.
Aubrey was selected by Toronto FC as the 21st pick in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Aubrey’s professional soccer career was short-lived, but still needing to support his family, he stepped away from sports totally and took a job as a software engineer.
But, it didn’t take long to realize where his heart was.
"A couple of months in I realized it wasn’t for me so I needed to find a way to get back into sports but make a little bit more money," Aubrey said.
Despite last playing organized football in junior high school, Aubrey put in the work and positioned himself to be eligible for the USFL. He won two championships with the Birmingham Stallions before the NFL's Cowboys offered him a free agent contract in July.
"I’m just excited for the opportunity to compete and I’m just gonna do what I can to win the job," Aubrey said.
The NFL kicking carousel can be a fragile ride, but then again Aubrey’s journey has been anything but easy, so far.