The Minnesota Vikings ended their two-game losing streak on Sunday Night Football last week against the Indianapolis Colts, but the win didn’t come without a cost — particularly to the Vikings’ special teams unit.
During the game, the Vikings lost most of their kicking group, as both long snapper Andrew DePaola and kicker Will Reichard suffered significant injuries. The team announced on Tuesday that both players would be headed to injured reserve.
DePaola suffered a hand injury while Reichard strained his right quad during the game. With Reichard heading to injured reserve and the team not having another kicker on the roster, it was inevitable that Minnesota would sign someone. Tuesday afternoon, we learned that someone is John Parker Romo.
Romo’s interesting and winding-kicking journey dates back to his collegiate days. He started his college career with the Central Arkansas Bears, serving as their kickoff specialist and only attempting one field goal on the season, a miss.
After one year at Central Arkansas, Romo transferred to Tulsa. Per NCAA rules (which have since changed), Romo sat out the 2017 season and joined the Tulsa football team as a walk-on for 2018. Romo would once again serve primarily as a kickoff specialist, attempting only five field goals and making just two of them.
After his sophomore season at Tulsa, Romo once again transferred, this time to Virginia Tech, where he spent three seasons. Romo finally became a full-time kicker for the Hokies in his final season, 2021, where he went 34-for-34 on extra point attempts and 18-for-22 on field goals.
Romo was undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent. He spent the 2022 season on the Saints’ practice squad, never seeing a regular-season game.
In the spring of 2023, Romo would find himself in the XFL with the San Antonio Brahmas, where he would play in all 10 of their games and make 17 of his 19 field goal attempts. That stint in the XFL earned Romo a tryout with the Detroit Lions. After the tryout, Romo signed with Detroit but was released before the season started.
From there, Romo would land on the Chicago Bears’ practice squad for September before being waived in early October. Now, Romo has landed in Minnesota, where he will finally make his regular-season debut in the league.
It’s been a long road for the journeyman kicker, but he now finds himself on a team that, at least for now, seems destined to make a playoff run. How long Romo will remain the Vikings’ kicker remains to be seen, as we still don’t know the full extent of the Reichard injury, but if Romo can capitalize on his chance, it will make for one heck of a story.