Writing, or opining, on a kicker is normally the off ramp to, “No One Cares.”
The man kicking for the Dallas Cowboys is the one kicker who is worth staying on the highway. This is the one instance you may actually want to buy the jersey of the kicker.
Cowboys fan Post Malone was recently spotted before a Cowboys game on the sideline wearing a No. 17 jersey. No disrespect to playoff QB Quincy Carter, but this generation associates Cowboys’ No. 17 with Brandon Aubrey.
A fan, or observer, can easily appreciate Aubrey’s right leg, or talent. A former kicker is in awe of it.
“I got into the league because I had a strong leg. Remember, I was their ‘kick off’ guy. I was the kicker who was on the punt team, too, and I didn’t punt,” former Cowboys kicker David Buehler said this week in a phone interview.
“I took my son to a card show in the summer and (Aubrey) was there and my son really, really wanted to meet him. My son was absolutely starstruck. He’s 12, and he got a photo with him. Afterwards, I told him, ‘At one point that was me.’”
Buehler was drafted to be an Aubrey type, but he could never quite combine the two necessary elements. Because it’s historically hard.
Buehler is an obscure figure in Cowboys history, a fifth round pick in the 2009 draft out of USC who floored scouts with a combine performance that was typical of a linebacker more than a kicker. Long before Aubrey bombed kicks from 60-plus yards Buehler was one of the NFL’s early “big leg” kickers who could crush it.
When the Cowboys picked Buehler it was with the hope that he could combine his big leg and improve the accuracy to become a long-range threat. At the time, the only other kicker with a leg as strong as Buehler’s was Sebastian Janikowski of the Raiders.
It never quite all lined up for Buehler, who made 24-of-32 field goals in his career, including 4-of-6 from beyond 50 yards. He played with the Cowboys from 2009 to 2011.
Kicking a ball 60-plus yards is hard enough. Kicking a ball 60 yards accurately is a “very particular set of skills” that can make it a nightmare for other teams. The Cowboys offense can only require two first downs for a realistic shot at 3 points.
“It’s unbelievable what he is doing. The standard has risen so much for kickers since I was in the league, and he is on a different level,” Buehler said. “I know it’s only his second year and people are asking if he’s better than (Ravens kicker) Justin Tucker and I think he is. He just has to have a long career.
“He’s a different breed, and he has upped the bar for what to expect from NFL kickers. He’s a pioneer.”
Aubrey has made a 65-yard kick, and is 17-of-18 for his career from 50-plus. He has made the absurd possibility of the 70-yard field goal look not just attainable but inevitable.
Kickers like Tucker and Aubrey, and now a growing list, has Buehler convinced the NFL will be forced to adjust the width of its field goals. Much like the NFL moved back the length of its point after attempt because there was zero suspense to the play, Buehler thinks as the accuracy of kickers improves the league will be forced to make it harder.
The width between an NFL field goal posts is 18-feet, 6-inches.
“Somewhere down the line they’re going (shrink that) down to maybe 14 feet or so; guys are making 90 percent of their kicks now,” Buehler said. “And they are making 50 yarders like it’s nothing.”
Buehler’s timing was just a bit off for this evolution. His career ended right before the wave of technology reformed the art of “ball striking.” This sort of thing is now pervasive throughout football, golf, baseball … anything where a person needs to maximize hitting a ball of any shape or size to the moon, in a Category 5 hurricane.
Aubrey has made himself into the unique creature; he’s the kicker worth stopping to watch work. As a fan, you’re amazed by what he can do.
If you’re a former kicker who lived that life, and knows exactly how hard it is to do what he makes look so easy, you’re in awe of his particular set of skills that can make it a nightmare for other teams.