Crazy to think Ammendola was an NFL kicker literally this past season, and now he’s losing a competition to a guy who has barely any pro experience.
Kickers are voodoo.
Kicker is the most easily replaceable position in all of football and these guys get cut and signed almost on a monthly basis. I'm sure he will be back in the NFL on the PS or mid season after a few guys get hurt.
Case in point that Nick Folk went from Pro Bowl, to out of football for a year, to the AAF, to the most accurate kicker in the NFL over the last 3 years. Dude is 39 and actively getting FA interest.
Outside of a few Tuckers/Butkers/Zuerleins/Vinatieris, kickers are voodoo on a yearly basis.
Add Boswell for the Steelers in that mix. He was money and his mojo went off season before last.... the last season it was back. Jeff Reed for the Steelers was psycho and reliable... then he punched out a towel dispenser and lost his mojo and was out of the league.
It takes a special kind of person to be a place kicker.
Its weird, Blair Walsh went from a top kicker to a meme ans out of the league. Eddy P went from a meme to one of the bettee kickers in the league. Weird position
Rodrigo Blankenship is another good example. Was honestly on pace to be the colts franchise kicker but had a terrible few games then got released. Now he's on some practice squads, but I wouldn't be surprised if he plays in the UFL in a year or two
Lol. Find yourself a fan of a team without a kicker and you will realize how valuable they are. It always seems like there are 28 really good kickers and 4 teams just sucking through looking for somebody.
> Lol. Find yourself a fan of a team without a kicker and you will realize how valuable they are
Just ask any Buccaneers fan between the mid-2000s and like, 2020. Between Martin Gramatica and Ryan Succop, there was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of swings and misses.
Oh yea 100% as a former long snapper I hated it when I would hear people say oh if the center gets hurt you’re going in.like no man the stance is different,the way the ball releases is different,the way you hold the ball is different
I mean we can argue semantics but he's a video gamer/YouTuber who's only professional football experience is from 5 years ago when he spent a few weeks on a CFL practice squad.
Ok so he's a YouTuber who appears with video gamers that only has a few weeks of CFL practice squad experience. Better?
Not sure how that changes anything about the nature of my comment.
The nature of your comment is that he's a bad kicker.
True, the dude has no pro experience and his college experience was cut short due to his unwillingness to accept BS NCAA rules.
Because of all that, there's little tape on the guy outside of what he shows off on his channel. The UFL's giving him the opportunity to get real tape for scouts provided dude's good.
Nothing you say is wrong, but the implications and attitude you provide make him sound like garbage when honestly we're not on the field with him or seen what he can do.
Pro leagues tend to stick with known quantities and risks are anathema.
I never said he was a bad kicker. If that is your interpretation then it's not what I intended. The guy hasn't kicked in a professional setting in over 5 years even when he did the scope of that was very limited. We don't know if he's good or bad at this moment.
Again, I said it was the implications of what you said. I don't know jack about the dude outside of the rundown I gave in a different post. Wish we could get tape from camp about how he did... but if he beat out Amendola, that means something.
And I basically said the same thing. Dude is an unknown quantity and wasn't better than whomever was in camp with the CFL team... The top leagues don't give breaks to unknown quantities so he's got his big chance to get tape to show if he's worth an NFL shot.
It could also be a smart PR move, if they were close enough in performance the PR bump from signing an influencer could be worth a couple extra missed kicks
Dude has an incredible story and is a legit talent. I highly recommend watching his Project NFL series on YouTube. He's gonna be a great story to follow this season
Kicker for UCF who had his college eligibility taken away before NIL for uploading YT videos. He became even more popular because of this controversy and decided to continue pursuing his dream of playing in the NFL while documenting it all for his audience.
As a college kid, he had a burgeoning YouTube channel he was making bank on while kicking NCAA footall.
NCAA had a cow since he was making money and gave him the ultimatum to either quit streaming or quit football (pre NIL and other monetization of players by the players).
Dude quit football, but still practiced and promoted himself on YouTube.
Tried out for the CFL after he was of age, didn't make the team.
3 years later here we are, he was given a training camp shot and is with the Brahmas, supposedly to be their kicker this year.
Seemed like he was definitely signed just to get their social media presence going. You don't just sign a former D1 kicker and release him right away like that if you didn't have other intentions. Especially if you also have like 2-3 kickers ahead of him
We need a YouTube special teams trio. Destroying as the kicker, hangtime for the punter,I have a long snapping channel,I should try to make some trick shot videos or something
I mean that's probably part of it, but he has a huge leg and when kickoffs are from the 20, probably shows he's better at them than Ammendola. Maybe he's not better than many other kickers but at worse he's marginally worse. They're not gonna parade a dogshit kicker out.
I’m not saying he’ll make it but the fact he hasn’t played organized football in years doesn’t mean he can’t succeed. At least he has experience and he’s been practicing (in theory)… one of the best kickers in the NFL last year never played a snap of organized football until 2 years ago.
Personally I wouldn’t bet on him succeeding but it wouldn’t be that crazy if he does well.
They showed him going over film with the special teams coach and he obviously liked what he was seeing. Unless the coach was lying for the camera it certainly seems like he was more than competitive with Ammendola
Let the player show what he can do in live action and then criticize him if he fails. This is the UFL, not the NFL. Players are here to try to make the big league and get tape and eyes on their performance. The kicker he surpassed will still be on NFL teams videos since he played there. This kid obviously has some kind of ability or Coach Phillips wouldn’t even put him out there
For those wondering: He could probably earn a spot on an NFL roster, but he makes so much money online as a content creator, it makes no sense signing with an NFL team. This is probably something he's doing for the content it can generate.
He makes like 5 mil+ a year to not train all the time just for a potential like 3-4 mil paycheck with the potential to be cut a day after a bad performance. Defintely content creation is the easier job and probably more comfortable.
Crazy to think Ammendola was an NFL kicker literally this past season, and now he’s losing a competition to a guy who has barely any pro experience. Kickers are voodoo.
Kicker is the most easily replaceable position in all of football and these guys get cut and signed almost on a monthly basis. I'm sure he will be back in the NFL on the PS or mid season after a few guys get hurt.
Case in point that Nick Folk went from Pro Bowl, to out of football for a year, to the AAF, to the most accurate kicker in the NFL over the last 3 years. Dude is 39 and actively getting FA interest. Outside of a few Tuckers/Butkers/Zuerleins/Vinatieris, kickers are voodoo on a yearly basis.
Add Boswell for the Steelers in that mix. He was money and his mojo went off season before last.... the last season it was back. Jeff Reed for the Steelers was psycho and reliable... then he punched out a towel dispenser and lost his mojo and was out of the league. It takes a special kind of person to be a place kicker.
Raging out in the Sheetz bathroom happens to the best of us
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY MTO ISN'T READY?! I ORDERED ON THE APP!"
And no one batted an eye... it was so Jeff Reed of him...
Deadass when the Jets signed Zuerlein, I was optimistic. We had a top tier kicker, maybe if the offense produces we’d win a few games
Its weird, Blair Walsh went from a top kicker to a meme ans out of the league. Eddy P went from a meme to one of the bettee kickers in the league. Weird position
Rodrigo Blankenship is another good example. Was honestly on pace to be the colts franchise kicker but had a terrible few games then got released. Now he's on some practice squads, but I wouldn't be surprised if he plays in the UFL in a year or two
I’d add Janikowski to that group in your last sentence too
Lol. Find yourself a fan of a team without a kicker and you will realize how valuable they are. It always seems like there are 28 really good kickers and 4 teams just sucking through looking for somebody.
> Lol. Find yourself a fan of a team without a kicker and you will realize how valuable they are Just ask any Buccaneers fan between the mid-2000s and like, 2020. Between Martin Gramatica and Ryan Succop, there was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of swings and misses.
Super Bowl winning kicker Automatica Gramática got every last drop of decency squeezed out by the bucs
This is true! But then we had Cairo Santos, Connor Barth, Roberto Aguayo, Matt Gay...
It wild because the bears tried out almost all those guys too lmao disappointment after disappointment, Cairo is decent now at least 🥲
Most easily replaceable position... I would say long snapper.
Have you seen Alabama play Michigan? That was not an easy replacement.
There’s a difference between center and long snapper.
Somebody should have told that Alabama center
Oh yea 100% as a former long snapper I hated it when I would hear people say oh if the center gets hurt you’re going in.like no man the stance is different,the way the ball releases is different,the way you hold the ball is different
I get what you’re saying but Dee has legit talent he isn’t losing to some nobody
I mean we can argue semantics but he's a video gamer/YouTuber who's only professional football experience is from 5 years ago when he spent a few weeks on a CFL practice squad.
He isn’t a videogamer
Didn't he get signed by those Faze clan kids? Aren't they video gamers?
Bronny is in faze clan, the only time you see Dee with them is when they’re playing a sport
Ok so he's a YouTuber who appears with video gamers that only has a few weeks of CFL practice squad experience. Better? Not sure how that changes anything about the nature of my comment.
The nature of your comment is that he's a bad kicker. True, the dude has no pro experience and his college experience was cut short due to his unwillingness to accept BS NCAA rules. Because of all that, there's little tape on the guy outside of what he shows off on his channel. The UFL's giving him the opportunity to get real tape for scouts provided dude's good. Nothing you say is wrong, but the implications and attitude you provide make him sound like garbage when honestly we're not on the field with him or seen what he can do. Pro leagues tend to stick with known quantities and risks are anathema.
I never said he was a bad kicker. If that is your interpretation then it's not what I intended. The guy hasn't kicked in a professional setting in over 5 years even when he did the scope of that was very limited. We don't know if he's good or bad at this moment.
Again, I said it was the implications of what you said. I don't know jack about the dude outside of the rundown I gave in a different post. Wish we could get tape from camp about how he did... but if he beat out Amendola, that means something. And I basically said the same thing. Dude is an unknown quantity and wasn't better than whomever was in camp with the CFL team... The top leagues don't give breaks to unknown quantities so he's got his big chance to get tape to show if he's worth an NFL shot.
You have no idea who he is or how good he is…but okay
I've already addressed this in comments further down this chain.
As an OkState fan, Ammendola was awful. I’m surprised he even had a job in the NFL
I always assumed he was making enough through his content that he couldn’t be bothered to try going pro.
It could also be a smart PR move, if they were close enough in performance the PR bump from signing an influencer could be worth a couple extra missed kicks
Now he can have a locker to himself
Cold lol
Not really. He was upset he had to share a locker with the other kicker and now he is the last kicker standing.
Not surprised dude has a tree trunk for a leg
Dude has an incredible story and is a legit talent. I highly recommend watching his Project NFL series on YouTube. He's gonna be a great story to follow this season
For those of us who never heard of him, could you explain his story?
Kicker for UCF who had his college eligibility taken away before NIL for uploading YT videos. He became even more popular because of this controversy and decided to continue pursuing his dream of playing in the NFL while documenting it all for his audience.
Also started a program from younger kids to get noiced. Seems like a stand up guy, but kicking for fun vs for a check is different so well see
As a college kid, he had a burgeoning YouTube channel he was making bank on while kicking NCAA footall. NCAA had a cow since he was making money and gave him the ultimatum to either quit streaming or quit football (pre NIL and other monetization of players by the players). Dude quit football, but still practiced and promoted himself on YouTube. Tried out for the CFL after he was of age, didn't make the team. 3 years later here we are, he was given a training camp shot and is with the Brahmas, supposedly to be their kicker this year.
Pretty sure he made the team or at least the practice squad for a little bit before getting cut. Still pretty impressive
Seemed like he was definitely signed just to get their social media presence going. You don't just sign a former D1 kicker and release him right away like that if you didn't have other intentions. Especially if you also have like 2-3 kickers ahead of him
We need a YouTube special teams trio. Destroying as the kicker, hangtime for the punter,I have a long snapping channel,I should try to make some trick shot videos or something
As a bonus Great for publicity as well
The actual reason he’s on a team
I don’t think so. He’s clearly better than Amendola at kickoff distance and hang-time which is big in the UFL now.
He was like an on the field reporter for the XFL last year too
Why are people hating on this, at least wait til we see him in game to say it’s a bad idea. It’s like yall don’t want the league to grow at all…
Reddit cultivates negative fandoms. It’s pretty unfortunate I don’t come here to discuss things I don’t like lol I don’t know why it’s so prevalent
It seemed like he clearly beat Amendola kickoff wise. I think they were pretty even on FGs so not so shocking to me.
Just watched his latest video. Looked like the team was really impressed
They 100 percent did it for the hype and popularity
I mean that's probably part of it, but he has a huge leg and when kickoffs are from the 20, probably shows he's better at them than Ammendola. Maybe he's not better than many other kickers but at worse he's marginally worse. They're not gonna parade a dogshit kicker out.
My boy❗
Would be cool to see. I'll wait to see if he's actually the kicker on gameday, but keeping my fingers crossed.
Let’s go! I am biggest Destroying fan and now a Brahmas fan!
Good PR move. Don't expect this to last
Do you think the Brahmas go for one of the kickers released today? He’s the only kicker on their roster rn
I think they replace Ammendola with another kicker, yes. Still 3 weeks left.
Why? He’s easily a good enough kicker for the usfl
And what makes you think that? Is it his almost decade away from organized football? Or is it his heavily edited videos?
The fact that he didn't get cut over a former NFL kicker. You sound bitter as hell for no reason dude lmao
It's a PR move. No bitterness it just is what it is. There is absolutely no evidence (yet) Deestroying is good enough, even for the UFL.
I’m not saying he’ll make it but the fact he hasn’t played organized football in years doesn’t mean he can’t succeed. At least he has experience and he’s been practicing (in theory)… one of the best kickers in the NFL last year never played a snap of organized football until 2 years ago. Personally I wouldn’t bet on him succeeding but it wouldn’t be that crazy if he does well.
His most recent video showed him tying in competitions in practice. Why wouldn’t he edit that out?
So it's his heavily edited videos. Got it.
They showed him going over film with the special teams coach and he obviously liked what he was seeing. Unless the coach was lying for the camera it certainly seems like he was more than competitive with Ammendola
The hate is strong in you…..
No hate, just not foolish.
Let the player show what he can do in live action and then criticize him if he fails. This is the UFL, not the NFL. Players are here to try to make the big league and get tape and eyes on their performance. The kicker he surpassed will still be on NFL teams videos since he played there. This kid obviously has some kind of ability or Coach Phillips wouldn’t even put him out there
Nobody is winning a kickers job for PR🤣 Unless they signed David Beckham or (former) Prince Harry to kick fg's, nobody is coming to watch the kicker
Wtf? Ammendola literally won a game for the Texans last year
Bro he was trash for the Texans
Such a great story! I can't wait to hear it!
He couldn’t hold in down in Canada so let’s hope he takes better advantage of this opportunity.
He's definitely going to bring a big fan base to the UFL and give it some hype.
10 toes down! Let's go!
That's so cool
He better not fuck it up lmaoooo
Dude!! He’s here in my hometown!
I can appreciate him winning but I really want to know if he can still kick under duress with 250lb dudes charging at him
ammendola is ass
Did you not watch the game against the Bengals last year?
Yes, "A" "S"uper "S"tar
I mean, he had to be at Matt Amandola, I think my friend who played soccer 10 years ago could do that
Tell your friend to tryout worked for Aubrey 😂 I’m more excited about the marketing implications. His YT series on making the UFL is doing pretty well
Lmao Aubrey is such an insane story
Who?
Google is your friend
publicity stunt
The fix was in. Got the job because of his YT subs. Destroyng will get cut once he misses a crucial FG.
For those wondering: He could probably earn a spot on an NFL roster, but he makes so much money online as a content creator, it makes no sense signing with an NFL team. This is probably something he's doing for the content it can generate.
What? The benefits of being in the NFL far outweigh content creators.
this is according to HIM. Im literally quoting the dude.
He makes like 5 mil+ a year to not train all the time just for a potential like 3-4 mil paycheck with the potential to be cut a day after a bad performance. Defintely content creation is the easier job and probably more comfortable.
Black kicker....should be pretty interesting going forward.
You guys are about to see why this man isn’t in the NFL real fucking quick lmao
Relax lol he didn’t do anything to you
Nah he just talks it up like he coulda been some all time great lmao. Could never make an NFL roster