I hate kickers. I know that sounds harsh, but I have good reason to.
I should probably preface this by saying I am a lifelong New York Giants fan. Yes, Lawrence Tynes hit a long field goal in the snow once when I was a kid, and that was great. Other than that? I always seem to be on the losing end of a kicking performance. The Giants managed to churn through four kickers just last season alone. As long as the powers that be continue to allow kickers to play the game of football, I will be here to criticize them.
Not only is it ridiculous that after 60 minutes of tightly contested football, we allow the only guy on the team who does not actually play football to decide the outcome, but it has also become far too easy for them to do the easiest job on the roster.
In the NFL, a touchback places the ball at the 35-yard line. Reach midfield and you’re suddenly asking your kicker to attempt a 67-yarder — something most NFL kickers can do on a good day. It has become the ultimate consolation prize. “Oh, you picked up a first down? Here, take three points. Enjoy.”
The hash marks are already as wide as the goalposts. That means if you can kick the ball straight, you will score every time. These are professional kickers. If they cannot kick the ball straight, they should not have a job.
Do you know how wide the goalposts are? Two hundred twenty-two inches. The football is roughly six inches wide. That means if you aim for the middle, you can miss your mark eighteen times in either direction and still sneak it between the uprights.
If a quarterback misses his intended target by nine feet, the other team is celebrating in the end zone. If a kicker does it, we get a slow-motion camera zoom on his sad face while teammates console him. Why do we allow this? Why are these guys deciding winners and losers in games they barely participate in?
To drive the point home, let’s revisit a few glorious kicker lowlights from 2025.
First up: Younghoe Koo. That Week 1 miss paid dividends later in the year. The Panthers went to the playoffs. The Falcons went golfing. The Falcons’ head coach went job hunting. Koo eventually did, too — though the Giants, desperate as ever, were more than happy to bring him in to miss kicks for them. A match made in heaven.
Then there was Jude McAtamney. Before turning to Koo, the Giants were employing a kicker who had been cut from Rutgers as a sophomore. That one is more of a shot at general manager Joe Schoen than McAtamney himself, but it’s worth mentioning because of what followed.
Against the Broncos, the Giants became the first team in NFL history to lose a game despite holding a three-possession lead with fewer than six minutes remaining. Final score: Broncos 33, Giants 32. McAtamney missed two extra points.
Miss one PAT and you had a bad day. Miss two, and you stink. Miss two and lose by one? Call an Uber. You are not welcome back on the team bus.
Of course, the Giants had their reasons. They needed to replace Graham Gano — the kicker making millions who spends most of the season injured on the sideline. To be fair, don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Except sometimes that player opens the season by kicking off, watching the return go the distance, and injuring himself trying to chase the ballcarrier down within the first nine seconds of the year. A penalty wiped out the touchdown, but Gano still got hurt for absolutely no reason. You won’t find that play in the record books, but it lives forever in my memory.
To be clear, some kickers do come up clutch. There have been six successful fourth-quarter kicks of 60-plus yards to tie or take the lead in NFL history. Brandon Aubrey did it this season to force overtime against the Giants, where the Cowboys eventually won.
Leaguewide, those kicks are converted at a miserable rate. Against the Giants, though? Kickers are 3-for-6. Against everyone else combined? Three for 60.
At some point, you start to see how my worldview was formed.
Still, it hasn’t all been bad. The Giants do have a shiny new head coach thanks to a kicker missing his one job. If Tyler Loop makes his kick at the end of the season, the Ravens likely reach the playoffs instead of the Steelers, and John Harbaugh probably keeps his job.
So, thank you, Tyler. The Giants needed that.
Now that you know me — and know how I have been personally victimized by kickers — I hope you can see football in a new light. A better light. One without kickers.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the blunders from this past season, both NFL and college. I see them all. I do not discriminate.
When it comes down to it, kickers are head cases who ruin an otherwise beautiful game.
Take it from me — someone who once successfully kicked an uncontested 20-yard field goal inside the College Football Hall of Fame.
Check Out All EasySportz NFL Content Here!
Jaguars Season Preview, A Look Back!
