Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn scored his 600th career point against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14, cementing himself as the Houston Texans’ second-leading scorer all-time behind kicker Kris Brown. Fairbairn was three-for-three on his three-point attempts and converted both of his extra-point attempts in the Texans’ loss.
His 11 total points helped keep Houston within striking distance of their second win of the season, but a late defensive collapse on the Texans’ final defensive drive gave Dallas the edge they needed to escape the matchup as the victor. If it weren’t for Fairbairn’s expert kicking performance, this game would’ve gotten out of hand for Houston, and they would have struggled to put up such a competitive showing.
Fairbairn, a native of Hawaii, has played for the Texans since joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2016 after an illustrious career at the University of California, Los Angeles. He became the second UCLA Bruin to win the coveted Lou Groza Award for his performance in 2015 and made an instant impact for Houston as soon as he stepped foot on the field.
After a few years to get his footing in the NFL, Fairbairn ended the 2018 season as the league’s leading scorer and has been a steady contributor to the Texans’ special teams unit ever since. He has an all-time conversion percentage of 84.8 percent on field goal attempts, and his career-long field goal is 61 yards.
Houston will continue to rely on Fairbairn’s golden leg for years to come, and especially through the end of their 2022 schedule as they seek to find their second win of the season in the next five weeks. The highly respected kicker will have his work cut out for him amid the Texans’ recent quarterback controversies, which will surely give him ample opportunities to kick for three points over the remainder of the regular season.