The offseason is always a time of change in the NFL, and one of the biggest changes so far this offseason is actually an on-field one. The league dramatically altered its kickoff rules to mimic those used by the XFL.
It remains to be seen how those new rules will affect the game itself, but they do have a big fan in All-Pro Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, who famously began his NFL career by converting each of his first 36 career field goals and also drilled touchbacks on 90.8% of his kickoffs. His 99 touchbacks constituted a new NFL record. Touchbacks won't be as advantageous in 2024 as they have been in the past, but Aubrey is nonetheless in favor of the change.
"I love it," Aubrey said of the rule change, via the team's official website. "It's gonna save my leg and give me a chance to go out there and hit some unique balls. [Special teams coordinator John Fassel] is aggressive so he'll give me all the opportunity in the world to go out there and make mistakes, and live with them."
As for what, exactly, those "unique balls" will consist of, Aubrey is a bit more demure.
"We're in the workshop right now," he said. "Hang time is a little less important and not being able to move until it's caught, so we're in the workshop -- don't wanna really give too much away. ... It works with hitting the ball in different ways, putting my foot on the ball in different ways and wrapping my foot around it in certain ways. I think it will help. Being a soccer player is a skill I've taken with me to the NFL."
The 28-year old Aubrey played soccer at Notre Dame, where he was an All-ACC center-back, then spent a couple years playing professionally in the MLS and the USL. He then switched to football and emerged as the best kicker in the USFL spring league, after which point the Cowboys brought him into training camp last year. Dallas is surely thankful that it did, and will be even more so if Aubrey can both replicate his field-goal performance and find a way to make the new rules work in his favor.
