To be a successful athlete on the highest stage, one must master both the physical and mental challenges that come with it. Players that reach the highest levels of these areas are offered zero guarantees for how long they remain at such levels.
Injuries and age can sap the physical aspect, while causes of mental decline aren’t quite as easy to predict or identify. The “yips”, defined by Merriam-Webster as “a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete in the performance of a crucial action” can affect athletes in all levels and at any given time in sports.
For Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher that happened on the biggest stage of his life.