A comment thrown into the air by the woman of Brandon Aubrey while they were watching an American football game, it caused a ‘click’ in the head of the current kicker of the United States. Dallas Cowboys. “You would shoot better than him” It was the wife’s brief assessment of an action by a kicker, the player in charge of earning extra points by kicking with sticks.
Y Brandonsitting on the sofa and who had already left professional sports and had returned to ‘real life’, began to think about the issue of returning. He had a short experience in soccer (conventional soccer) in which he did not succeed in reaching the first team. Toronto of the MLS for various reasons and I would not have thought in the slightest that I would end up being part of an American football team.
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In the USL
Brandon Aubrey (3/14/1995) grew up playing soccer. Raised in Plano, Texas (in the metropolitan area of dallas), a football hotbed where other great players of the MLS as Kelly’s Acosta y Keaton Parksthe decision to dedicate himself to professional football was natural for him. He received a scholarship for University of Notre Damethen with one of the best soccer programs in the country where he combined it with his studies as a software engineer for four seasons.
Aubrey cut his teeth in Toronto FC II after being chosen in the first round of the draft
He was then selected 21st in the first round of the NBA draft. Major League Soccer of 2017 by Toronto FC. The difficulties of Aubrey in Toronto They were accentuated by the fact that he was selected at a time when a good batch of players came out of the clubs’ academies with brilliant promises from the area of Toronto who had been formed under the same playing principles as the first team, were younger and could cost less, all this in a squad already full of stars that reached three league finals MLS between 2016 and 2019. Despite standing out in his rookie season with the club’s then affiliate in the USLthe TOronto FC II, Aubrey It did not return for a second season. He spent another year in professional football with Bethlehem Steelthe subsidiary of Philadelphia Union in the USL back then, before hanging up his soccer boots.
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The jump to American football
After the ‘click’, he decided to invest in a kicking coach and give his professional career one last chance. While working full-time as a software engineer, he trained in his spare time and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in his garage. Three years later, the Birmingham Stallions They selected him as the team’s starting kicker for the 2022 season. Aubrey took a pay cut of more than 50% to leave his career as a software engineer and join the team. After two successful seasons with the Stallionswho play in the spring (as opposed to the calendar of the NFL), arrived at the U.S. summer training camp Dallas Cowboys of 2023.
Brandon Aubrey, during a game against the New York Giants
Competing for a roster spot in the team’s final preseason game, he had a chance to kick a 59-yard field goal — a huge distance even at the elite level — and likely cement his place on the team. Failed. But, as in his life as a professional athlete, a second chance presented itself. Later, with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Aubrey he attempted a second take on a 59-yard shot. He put it between the posts.
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Signed for the Cowboys and he did not disappoint: the 28-year-old rookie has made 81 of his 92 kick attempts, which represents 88%. But perhaps the most impressive thing is that he has managed to hit 27 of his 30 attempts from more than 50 yards, an astonishing 90%, with 65 yards being the longest shot (the record is 68 yards).
Aubrey This season he has achieved 36 field goals out of 42 attempts (85.7%). And all for a simple comment and a second opportunity that he knew how to work and take advantage of.
