The U.S. men’s national team had a special guest at Tuesday’s practice, a familiar face for fans in Dallas.
The USMNT invited Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey to a training session ahead of Thursday’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal showdown with Jamaica at AT&T Stadium.
Aubrey, 29, emerged as one of the best kickers in the NFL last season, but his professional sports career actually started in soccer.
Aubrey was a defender at Notre Dame from 2013-2016, scoring 15 goals and earning first-team All-ACC recognition with the Fighting Irish. He was drafted by Toronto FC in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.
The defender spent his first season on loan to Toronto’s second team (a USL squad at the time), then he spent one year with Bethlehem Steel FC (another USL team that formerly served as a Philadelphia Union affiliate). After 47 appearances in the USL, Aubrey was out of soccer by 2019.
Aubrey started working as a software engineer. While watching an NFL game in 2019, Aubrey and his wife looked on as a kicker missed an attempt.
“You could do that,” she told him.
So he did.
Kickin’ it with the best! ⭐️@USMNT | @Concacaf pic.twitter.com/3FpZDuVKHj
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) March 20, 2024
Aubrey hired a kicking coach and he worked in his garage during the pandemic. After three years of training, he finally got an opportunity with the Birmingham Stallions (then of the USFL, a league that has since merged with the XFL to form the UFL).
In his first season as a professional kicker, Aubrey made the All-USFL first-team and he won back-to-back championships with the Stallions. After going 32-of-37 on field goal attempts in the spring league, Aubrey was invited to Cowboys training camp last summer.
Aubrey ended up winning Dallas’ starting kicker job and he went on to go 36-of-38 on field goal attempts in 2023, leading the NFL with 157 points. He quickly established himself as one of the best kickers in the NFL and made the Pro Bowl in his first season.
Aubrey is following in the footsteps of Josh Lambo, who switched from soccer to American football and went on to have a seven-year career as a kicker in the NFL. If his first season is any indication of what’s to come, Aubrey is well on his way to surpassing Lambo’s feats.
The winner of the USA-Jamacia match on Thursday will advance to face the winner of the Mexico-Panama clash in the Concacaf Nations League final at the Cowboys’ stadium on Sunday night.
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