Who Is Brandon Aubrey: It is one thing to be an elite athlete who pursues a professional athletic career; quite another to be proficient enough to turn pro in two distinct sports. That is an entirely different matter.
In 2017, Toronto FC selected Brandon Aubrey in the Major League Soccer (MLS) draft. Prior to that, he played for the club’s reserve team and USL affiliate Bethlehem Steel. However, as his soccer career struggled, an unrelated dialogue with a close friend over the settee prompted Aubrey to contemplate a transition to professional football.
Who Is Brandon Aubrey?
Aubrey, who retired from soccer five years ago, is currently the preferred placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys, with whom he has experienced a period of relative success. At this time, the Cowboys are presented with odds of +1000 to win the Super Bowl in 2024 by sportsbooks such as Sports Interaction. This places them in close proximity to the San Francisco 49ers (+450), Kansas City Chiefs (+500), Philadelphia Eagles (+750), Miami Dolphins (+900), and Buffalo Bills (+900).
Although Aubrey would not be the first former soccer player to perform at the Super Bowl, he would be the first in decades to accomplish this feat with such distinction.
A loved one told Aubrey in 2019 while the two of them watched an NFL game together, “You could do that.” The placekicker had just missed his attempt, but what appears so simple on television is in fact an entirely different matter when one considers the immense strain that comes with professional football. However, Aubrey must have had some inclination towards the sport, as he undertook a four-year kicking voyage during which he traded the round soccer sphere for the football and scheduled three times per week for private sessions with former Mississippi State coach Brian Egan.
Game-winning field goal vibes ????????
Former @USFLStallions K @Brandon_Aubrey hits a 39-yarder to secure a @dallascowboys win.
Aubrey is now 16-for-16 on field goals this year. ???? pic.twitter.com/OAutPI4TRy
— USFL (@USFL) October 17, 2023
In 2022, the Birmingham Stallions selected the 28-year-old for their USFL campaign; he finished the year with an impressive 81.8% success rate on field goals. The Dallas Cowboys, who averaged 66.5 yards per kickoff, were appropriately enthralled.
Aubrey was awarded a contract, and as of the sixth week of the 2023 season, he is 16 for 16 with no errors recorded, which is tied for the fourth-best start to a season for a novice. Furthermore, should he successfully slot his subsequent three attempts, the Cowboys would surpass the record held by a rookie kicker for the most sustained faultless start to a season.
A Superstar
In the 1970s, when Anton ‘Toni’ Fritsch transitioned from soccer to football, the records plummeted.
He is the sole individual to have won championships in both professional soccer and the NFL, having won the Austrian championship on nine occasions while representing the Austrian national team with Rapid Vienna.
The irony of ironies continued when Fritsch entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. The Austrian, who debuted in the NFL in 1971, was a member of the squad that defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. Despite suffering from injuries throughout that season, he ultimately earned a Super Bowl medal.
He spent the majority of 1979 with the Houston Oilers between stints with the Chargers and Saints, where he was named to two Pro Bowl teams and the All-Pro Bowl.
