Ever wonder what happens to scapegoat kickers?
NFL and college kickers sometimes get their due, but more often than not, they’re only remembered for the kicks they didn’t make.
Take the last game of the 2025 NFL regular season, for example.
Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell was crucified immediately on social media after he shanked an extra point after Aaron Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Only his second missed PAT in four years, the blunder looked as if it could end not only the season, but Rodgers’ career.
But then the unthinkable happened. With the Steelers barely holding onto a 26-24 lead, Baltimore’s rookie kicker Tyler Loop followed up by missing a 44-yard game-winner in the waning seconds.
Loop hadn’t missed inside 50 yards all season long.
The snap was good, the hold was good, but Loop pushed it to the right.
Within seconds, Internet trolls were roasting Loop on his Instagram account, ripping him in the comments of his top pinned post — an engagement photo with his fiance Julia Otto. Users posted memes of actors removing their wedding rings, and blamed Loop for their disapointing season coming to an end.
Comments included:
- “YOU HAD ONE JOB!!!!!”
- “You absolute choke artist missing that gimme field goal and costing us the division? Pack your bags, you’re a fraud and don’t deserve to be on the same team as Lamar and Derrick Henry”
- “Worse than Epstein!”
- “Hopefully shes cheating on you and becomes pregnant with a …”
It’s games like this that inspired “Kicking Themselves,” which will take a look at some of the biggest missed kicks in college and pro football, and how those kickers bounced back from those misses, both on and off the field.
There are some inspiring stories that have gone unoticed since many of these kickers walked away from the game and the limelight, for better or worse, and we’ll take a look at some of those stories in coming months. In the meantime, contact us with your stories to be included in Kicking Themselves.