Tag: brandon aubrey

NFL star and former MLS defender Aubrey pays visit to USMNT camp

Brandon Aubrey, a former MLS draft pick who led the NFL in scoring last season, stopped by USMNT camp this week

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.

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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The 4 most important 2nd-year players for the Cowboys in 2024

The Cowboys didn’t get a ton out of their draft class, but these players will need to play big in their second seasons. | From @TimLettiero

After a strong 2022 class that saw multiple draftees take starting roles, the Dallas Cowboys’ 2023 class left a lot to be desired. Injuries, questionable development strategies and a flurry of other miscellaneous setbacks have lined this crop of players as ones to forget, but thankfully, time is on their side.

Dallas is facing an offseason filled with tough decisions, and because defections are inevitable, success will require younger players to step up. The pressure is on the 2023 class. Here are the four most important second-year names to watch in the 2024 season.

ESPN+: Prescott is 2023 MVP, 7 Cowboys make Walder’s top-100 ballot

The Cowboys have a ton of talent, and while it clearly doesn’t guarantee results when it matters, it is better than not having any. | From @KDDrummondNFL

ESPN’s Seth Walder is one of the finest analytical minds the football world has to offer. Walder is the face of metrics that help explain the why of what happens, such as pass-block win rates, double-team rates, motion-at-the-snap rates and others. He doesn’t do it by himself, of course, ESPN has a vast network of analytical guys and girls that pour hours into quantifying things beyond the eye test. Hopefully one day their work will be the driving force behind all of the talking-head opinions.

Haha. Still, in looking back on the 2023 regular season — it’s a shame the playoffs were totally cancelled this year and the NFL won’t return until September, right? Right?? — Walder has once again objected to the AP only going five deep when it comes to the MVP award. Instead, he rolls out his ballot that goes all the way to 100. Sitting atop the perch? Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.

Prescott was one of three Cowboys to land in Walder’s top-eight, and one of seven to make the rankings overall. Not a lot of solace with such a disappointing end to the season, but Dallas does have a ton of talent on their roster. While it clearly doesn’t guarantee results, it’s certainly better to have than not.

NFL Playoffs: Packers Blow Out Cowboys

The D stands for Done.

The NFL season came to an end for the Dallas Cowboys as “America’s Team” was embarrassed on their home field by the Green Bay Packers, 48-32.

Green Bay jumped out to a 27-0 lead before the Cowboys got on the scoreboard to end the first half.  It was on cruise control the rest of the way for the Packers.

The loss sends Dallas home after the Cowboys after they were fantastic in the regular season, winning the NFC East and securing the second seed in the NFC playoffs.

The loss also eliminates a pair of former Notre Dame players from postseason play.  Offensive guard Zack Martin and kicker Brandon Aubrey were both eliminated with the loss while Green Bay moved on without a former Golden Domer on the roster.

The Packers will play at San Francisco against the top-seeded 49ers next weekend with a spot in the NFC championship on the line.

9 Cowboys named to AP All-Pro teams, led by WR CeeDee Lamb

The Cowboys two best players didn’t make First-Team All-Pro, but the club leads the NFL in players on the 2023 roster. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys apparently have the most great players in the NFL in 2023. A league-high nine members of the club’s 53-man roster were named to the Associated Press’ All-Pro team following the conclusion of the regular season. The leading vote getter for the club was wideout CeeDee Lamb, who fell just one vote shy of being a unanimous selection.

The AP All-Pro team is comprised of the best players at their positions, regardless of conference. Much like the NFLPA All-Pro list revealed earlier in the week, the best Cowboys player on each side of the ball was not named to the First Team. Both quarterback Dak Prescott and edge rusher Micah Parsons have been named to the Second-Team.

Dallas finished with a 12-5 record, tied for the best in their conference while winning the NFC East for the second time in three years. Dallas finished with the same final record as the San Francisco 49ers, but due to a head-to-head loss in Week 5, are the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff bracket as the tournament is set to kick off. In a likely preview of the MVP voting to be announced in February, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson took 45 of the 50 first-place votes for quarterback, with Prescott and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy getting two first-place votes each. Prescott had more overall votes than Purdy, earning the Second-Team honor.

The 49ers had seven players between the two teams with five First-Team players, including RB Christian McCaffrey and LB Fred Warner, who were unanimous choices.

Here’s a rundown of who made each from the Cowboys, as well as the full First and Second teams.

 

Cowboys’ Aubrey named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 1st-year kicker also won the award in October. He led the NFL in several categories for 2023, including field goals and total points.

Those two misses against the Commanders in the season finale didn’t do anything to diminish the record-setting debut campaign enjoyed by Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey. They didn’t even keep him from winning a special league honor for the second time this season.

Aubrey was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December/January. He also won the award in October, making him the first Cowboys special-teamer to ever win the accolade twice.

The former collegiate soccer star went 10-of-12 field goals over the final five games of the regular schedule, kicking off that final month with two field goals of over 59 yards against Philadelphia, marking the first time that’s ever been done in a single NFL game.

He went on to nearly complete a perfect season. His first three-point try in Week 18 was blocked; his second attempt ricocheted off the goalpost upright. But he ended the 38-10 Dallas win with a successful 50-yard boot, his league-leading 36th field goal of the season.

Aubrey led the NFL in scoring, with 156 total points, and set a new league record for touchbacks, with 99.

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The 28-year-old was named to his first Pro Bowl last week.

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5 Cowboys make NFLPA All-Pro list, but 2 best players miss out

5 Cowboys players made the NFLPA list but left off quarterback Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons. | From @ArmyChiefW3

The NFLPA released its second annual All-Pro roster on Wednesday. It’s not to be confused with the AP All-Pro list that comes out later. This year’s selections included five members of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, right guard Zack Martin and left guard Tyler Smith made the team on offense while cornerback DaRon Bland and kicker Brandon Aubrey made the list on their sides of the ball. Smith ended up in a tie with Cleveland guard Joel Bitoni, even though Smith did not make the initial Pro Bowl Roster.

As those players celebrate a great achievement, Cowboys fans will find it puzzling that their two most important players did not get selected. Quarterback Dak Prescott led the league in almost every statistical passing category yet was left off the first-team in favor of Lamar Jackson who threw for 12 fewer touchdowns and 841 fewer yards.

Jackson earning the best record in the NFL is apparently more of an indication of greatness than statistics are for an individual award.

Equally as puzzling was the decision to leave pass rusher Micah Parsons off the list as well. While it would be hard to argue against the case for Clevelands’ Myles Garrett, placing the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby over Parsons seems a bit questionable.

While Crosby registered 14.5 sacks compared to Parsons’s 14, the Dallas defender led the league in pressures with 103 compared to Crosby’s 94. According to PFF, Parsons had a higher overall grade, a higher pass rush grade, more quarterback hits and more quarterback hurries.

While a better record appears enough to overtake the quarterback discussion, it does nothing for a tightly-contested comparison among defenders.

Studs and duds in Cowboys’ NFC East clinching 38-10 Week 18 win

The studs on offense led the way for the Dallas Cowboys in their 38-10 NFC East clinching win over the Washington Commanders in Week 18. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys had one mission in Week 18, to leave Washington D.C. with a win and the NFC East title. Mission accomplished as the Cowboys routed the Washington Commanders in a 38-10 win that secured the team’s second division title in the last three years.

They took a little bit of time to get going, but a barrage that started late in the second quarter saw the Cowboys assert their dominance and blow out the Commanders behind a complete team effort. In a rivalry matchup, Mike McCarthy had to know his team would get everything the Commanders had in what was likely Ron Rivera’s last game with the team, and Dallas withstood the aggressive approach to pull away for the victory.

It was another great performance for the offense, while the defense got three more turnovers to guide the Cowboys. Here are the studs and duds from an NFC East clinching win for the Cowboys in Week 18.

Brandon Aubrey passes greatest test of the season in Cowboys Week 18 win

From @ReidDHanson: Brandon Aubrey might have had his worst game as an NFL kicker, but he fought back and passed his biggest test yet for the Cowboys.

Brandon Aubrey had the perfect season nearly locked up. Through 16 games he was a flawless 35-for-35 on field goals. The rookie was nine-for-nine from 50+ yards. He was perfect in routine and clutch situations alike. He even set the record in touchbacks in a single season.

All he needed was to keep doing what he was doing in Week 18, and his season would go down as arguably the greatest ever. Then he went 0-2. After a blocked kick and a 36-yard miss basically kneecapped his perfect year, Aurbey’s dream season turned into a nightmare scenario.

Just one year ago, Brett Maher was also arguably the best kicker in the NFL. He was a league leader in FG%, a touchback king, and had more clutch moments than a 1982 Datsun with a 5-speed transmission (but in a good way). Until he wasn’t.

In 2022’s Week 18 against Washington, Maher took his first true misstep of the season by missing a routine extra point. With no other field goal attempts or extra points on the day, it’s how he concluded the regular season. In case the memories that followed that moment have been subconsciously repressed, allow me to recap: Maher went on to miss five of the next six extra point attempts in the postseason.

With no physical aliment to point to, it was clear the “yips” had officially set in for the Cowboys kicker. Maher never regained the trust of his ballclub and his career with the Cowboys effectively came to an end after that.

As crazy as it sounds, being an NFL kicker is less about physical ability and more about mental fortitude. Standing on the sideline for 97.2% of a game has a way of getting into an athlete’s head. There’s no amount of sideline net kicking or weekly mojo moments that can make up for it. There are quite literally thousands of soccer players physically capable of handling kicker duties, but until they feel the pressure of the moment and have to bounce back after a miss, no one knows how capable they really are in the NFL.

It’s a situation the Cowboys and Aubrey almost entered the postseason completely untested in. Until Week 18 against the Commanders, of course.

While Aubrey would have probably preferred to end the season with perfection, the Cowboys are probably happy he slipped. Because before the game ended, Aubrey drilled a 50-yarder, burying his previous failures and putting the thought of the “yips” behind him.

Aubrey showed he’s capable of bouncing back. It’s something Maher never could and a sign Aubrey’s for real. While everyone will likely still be holding their breath on his first postseason kick, the Week 18 miss(es) is possibly the best thing that could have happened to Aubrey. He showed resiliency and fortitude. Everyone already knew he was elite physically. By bouncing back, he showed he’s also elite mentally.

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Notre Dame in NFL: Dallas Cowboys win NFC East

Cowboys are rolling – how far will they go this post season?

The Dallas Cowboys rolled the Washington Commanders 38-10 on Sunday and in doing so were crowned champions of the NFC East for the 2023 season.

A pair of former Notre Dame players starred for the Cowboys this season and will represent Dallas at the Pro Bowl later this year.

Brandon Aubrey, a former Notre Dame soccer player was perfect in field goal tries for Dallas this season, going 35-of-35 including a perfect 9-for-9 mark from beyond 50-yards before missing two of his field goal attempts in Sunday’s victory.

On the offensive line Zack Martin showed he was worth every penny of his massive contract from earlier this year in helped protect Dak Prescott in what was perhaps the quarterback’s best year to date.

The Cowboys win secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs that begin next weekend.