The lone kicker left at Cowboys camp was playing a different kind of football just a few years ago and spent last year in the USFL.
After the Cowboys cut Tristan Vizcaino on Monday, Brandon Aubrey is now the only kicker still under contract.
Aubrey signed with Dallas last month and played for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2022, but before that, he was a professional soccer player.
“Going through the evaluation process, we felt this was an opportunity to give Brandon the majority of the reps,” head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday, per the team website.
“As far as another kicker, yeah we’re always open for that. But I’m excited. With our young guy and make sure he gets the reps.”
Aubrey, 28, appeared to do fairly well as the team’s sole kicker, going 7-for-9 — missing wide on kicks from 43 and 44 yards — on his attempts during Monday’s practice, according to The Athletic.
McCarthy wasn’t the only one who seemed excited to have Aubrey as the team’s kicker going into the year. Jerry Jones gave his blessing as well.
“We’re comfortable,” Jones told reporters. “We’re excited about what we’ve seen. We’re excited about how he got here, and he’s having a real solid camp. So, we’re very comfortable going into the season with him.”
Aubrey certainly has had a unique road to the NFL, to say the least.
He played four years of college soccer at Notre Dame and was taken in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.
Aubrey played time for Toronto’s United Soccer League affiliate team — Toronto FC II — and then signed with Bethlehem Steel FC after Toronto released him in 2017.
He was subsequently cut in 2018.
After his pro soccer career faded, Aubrey joined the USFL in 2022 and turned some heads.
He made 14 of his 15 field goal attempts and hit 100 percent of his PATs.
Aubrey will get to try his luck in some game action on Saturday when the Cowboys play their first preseason game against the Jaguars.
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