These three former NCAA athletes went from scoring goals on the soccer field to kicking — and starring — in the NFL.
Brandon Aubrey | Dallas Cowboys
Aubrey played four years of soccer at Notre Dame, where he won a national title as a freshman (2013) and made the All-ACC first team as a senior. He was picked in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC and spent time in the MLS before turning his sights to the NFL.
In his 2023 rookie season, he set an NFL record for most consecutive made field goals to start a career (35), had the best field goal percentage in the league (94.7) and became the first player to make two 59-plus yard field goals in the same game, doing it against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 10.
Matt Gay | Indianapolis Colts
Gay played two years of soccer at Utah Valley and led his team with seven goals as a freshman in 2014. The summer of his junior year, he attended a kicking camp at Utah and proceeded to walk on. He became an All-American and led the nation with 30 field goals in his first year of football, winning the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker in the country. In his second year, Gay shined again and made 26 of 31 tries, including 21 consecutive field goals.
Gay is in his sixth NFL season, winning Super Bowl LVI with the Rams in 2022 before joining the Colts in March of 2023.
Jake Bates | Detroit Lions
Bates recently made his NFL debut with the Detroit Lions after playing a year in the UFL. Bates played two seasons of soccer at Central Arkansas, starting in the backline and helping his team to two NCAA tournaments. Bates then made the switch to kickoff specialist and played two seasons for Texas State football and a season at Arkansas where he led the SEC in average yards per kickoff (64.5) thanks to an SEC-best 64 touchbacks.
However, these former soccer players aren't the first to make the jump to the gridiron and most certainly won't be the last. English pro footballer
So how did we get here?
The crossover started in the 1960s when Hungarian immigrant Pete Gogolak, a lifelong soccer player, sent a video of himself kicking a 45-yard field goal to the Cornell football staff. Gogolak’s approach — three steps back and two to his left, then striking the ball with the instep of his foot — differed from the traditional straight-toe kick where players took three steps back and struck the ball with their big toe.
Gogolak received a scholarship to play at Cornell, where he madeand set a major college record by connecting on 44 consecutive conversions. His unique soccer-style kicking landed him a spot in the AFL. He later became the first player to switch over to the NFL.
Gogolak is credited with popularizing the unconventional kicking style and sparking a revolution in the quality and precision capabilities of kickers. By 1974, the NFL decided to move the goalposts back 10 yards to the back of the end zone. By 1987, straight-toe kickers were out of the NFL entirely and the soccer-style kicking that is used in today's games had become the standard.
