Dallas Cowboys place kicker Brandon Aubrey. Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey says switch from soccer to football wasn’t his idea

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 12/13/23

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey is having a record-setting rookie season, which wouldn’t have been possible had he not taken the advice of the person closest to him.

During a recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Aubrey admitted that the decision to switch careers from pro soccer to pro football was actually his wife’s idea — one that, in hindsight, was obviously the right call.

“My wife, we were sitting there watching football like we did every Sunday,” Aubrey stated. “She mentioned to me in passing, ‘I think you could do that.’ Having been a professional athlete, I thought she was crazy. At that time, I just got a ball and went to the field and just tried to see if I could do it.”

Aubrey transitioned to American football in 2022 after his soccer career didn’t pan out. A former first-round MLS SuperDraft pick of Toronto FC in 2017, Aubrey was playing in the United Soccer League within a year, and he called it quits after that.

Before setting NFL records, Brandon Aubrey was a FIRST ROUND PICK in the MLS draft pic.twitter.com/MDLOqUoL8b
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 11, 2023

“(My) soccer career didn't end the way I wanted it to,” Aubrey said. “Just figured it was time to pivot with what I went to school for. I got my degree in computer science and worked as a software engineer for a couple of years and realized at that time that wasn’t quite for me and I wanted to go back into sports.”

In 2019, Aubrey returned to school to pursue a computer science degree at Notre Dame. It was during this time his wife suggested the career switch. His first taste of life as a professional kicker came with the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL.

He made 32-of-37 field goals and 57-of-59 extra points, which earned him a contract with the Cowboys before training camp, where he beat out veteran Tristan Vizcaino for the starting job.

Thirteen games into his rookie year, Aubrey, 28, is one of only two players to not miss a field goal this year (30-for-30), and he’s also one of just two kickers with 30 made field goals.

The first player in @NFL history to make two FG of 59-or-longer in the same game ➡️ NFC Special Teams POTW

️ https://t.co/JKP7T2wm6x @Brandon_Aubrey + #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/zrlAmOOlDy
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 13, 2023