Dallas Cowboys ALL-pro kicker brandon aubrey grateful for opportunity provided by birmingham stallions
Dallas Cowboys’ All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey (right), joined by his wife Jenn, and Birmingham Stallions Special Teams Coach Chris Boniol before the Birmingham Stallions vs. Arlington Renegades game on March 30, 2024 in Arlington, Texas.
Photo by Triple Threat Photography
APRIL 1, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
By Steve Irvine
Brandon Aubrey received the chance to do something on Saturday that he was accustomed to doing over the past two seasons. He got a closeup view of a Birmingham Stallions victory.
This time was different, though. This time, the former Stallions standout kicker, who has transitioned to one the top kickers in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, was an interested spectator instead of a participant.
“It was a blast to go on the field and reconnect with some of the guys,” Aubrey said of the Stallions 27-14 road victory over the 2023 XFL champion Arlington Renegades. “It was good to see everyone and get a chance to catch up. The atmosphere was great, a lot of fans showed up. The pregame festivities were great, the show that the UFL made. It was fun. Good family friendly fun.”
He also enjoyed the final result in a game matching reigning champion vs. reigning champion.
“Absolutely, get the bragging rights, USFL champion vs. XFL champion,” Aubrey said.
Life is good for Aubrey, who is coming off one of the best seasons for a kicker in NFL history. For those who need to be refreshed on Aubrey’s story to reach that point, most probably don’t, he was a lifelong soccer player, who was an All-American at the University of Notre Dame. After a couple of years in professional soccer, he decided to become a software engineer. Not long after, Aubrey began learning the placekicking craft.
He said he owes Birmingham Stallions head coach Skip Holtz and the USFL for giving him an opportunity to move forward in football. It began at a specialist showcase before the inaugural USFL draft. Aubrey said former NFL kicker John Carney, also a Notre Dame graduate, recommended Holtz that he take a look at Aubrey.
“The workout was probably like 30 kickers,” Aubrey said. “You get like six field goals and five kickoffs to get a chance to show what you have in front of those scouts. I kicked really well that day and I had done well enough at a bunch of those camps to kind of build up a little resume for myself. With the recommendation I had from Carney and the performance I had there, the USFL player personnel director gave me a contract and the Stallions picked me up in the draft.”
It was a pick well spent. Over two USFL regular seasons, he was 32 of 37 on field goal attempts, including 14 of 15 in the 2023 season,, and 57 of 59 on extra points. In four playoff games during that time, he was 5 of 7 on field goals and 16 of 18 on extra points for the back-to-back USFL champions.
His first NFL opportunity came with the Dallas Cowboys. Aubrey said his ‘Welcome-to-the-NFL moment’ came in the team’s third exhibition game when he made a 59-yard field goal. Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones said afterward that Aubrey had won the job.
“Then I kind of swarmed by the media at my locker after that game,” Aubrey said. “I’d say that’s kind of the ‘Welcome-to-the-NFL’ moment for me. Other than that, I try to my best to tune it out and just focus on kicking balls.”
Actually, though, the extra attention in that postgame locker room was worth it to have the support of McCarthy and Jones.
“It’s awesome,” said Aubrey, who signed a three-year contract that pays him a reported $2.695 million. “Kicking is a very mental game and having confidence in yourself going out there and performing is hugely important. When somebody else, the decision makers on your team, have confidence in you and put it out publicly, it allowed me to just kind of take a deep breath and understand you’ve got the job, it’s yours to lose. Having those guys put a vote of confidence in me, really just secured my confidence in myself to go out there and get the job done. I really appreciated them making those statements at the time they did.”
Aubrey went on to repay that confidence over and over and over. He made his first 36 field goal attempts, the most ever in the NFL by a first year kicker, and was the first player in history to make two field of goals of 59 yards or more in a game when he was successful from 59 and 60 yards against Philadelphia. He had the best field goal percentage(94.7) for a first year NFL kicker and set a league mark with 99 kickoff touchbacks. He was an All-Pro selection and chosen to the NFL Pro Bowl team.
He certainly wasn’t overwhelmed by the moment.
“On a game day, it was pretty similar,” Aubrey said. “It was pretty much the same, going out there and kicking a ball. The snap and hold is pretty much the same. It’s just me out there, trying to put a ball through the uprights. In those respects, it’s the same. Now, the circus around the game, obviously, is a lot bigger in the NFL. I do everything in my power to kind of throw all of that out.”
Aubrey added he’s forever grateful for his opportunity in spring football.
“It means the world to me,” Aubrey said. “I think about that a lot, especially the way Skip Holtz gave me the opportunity when no one else would. The connection we had through John Carney at Notre Dame. It was a leap of faith without seeing me. Carney gave Holtz a recommendation and Holtz just blindly trusted him. He gave me a shot at the job. Without that, I’d still be working as a software engineer. I’m just really thankful for the opportunity. For the league to exist to give guys opportunities, I can’t thank them enough for it.”