Brett Maher (American football)

Brett Maher (/ˈmɑːhər/ MAH-hər;[1] born November 21, 1989) is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He played college football at Nebraska. He has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Ottawa Redblacks, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Cleveland Browns, Washington Commanders, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Rams.

Brett Maher
refer to caption
Maher with the Dallas Cowboys in 2018
Personal information
Born: (1989-11-21) November 21, 1989
Fremont, Nebraska, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:Kearney (Kearney, Nebraska)
College:Nebraska (2008–2012)
Position:Placekicker
Undrafted:2013
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
NFL Records
  • Most career field goals made over 60 yards: 4
  • Single season record for field goals made over 60 yards: 2
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2023
Field goals:111
Field goal attempts:139
Field goal %:79.9
Longest field goal:63
Extra points:140
Extra point attempts:147
Touchbacks:184
Career CFL statistics
Field goals:107
Field goal attempts:137
Longest field goal:58
Punts:368
Punt yardage:16,872
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR · CFL.ca

Early years

Maher attended Centennial Public Schools in Utica, Nebraska for his first three years of high school before transferring to Kearney High School, where he played high school football for the Bearcats.[2]

As a senior, he made 8-of-14 field goals, 41 of 46 extra points, and averaged 41.1 yards per punt. He also played wide receiver, posting 775 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He received All-state honors from the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald at the end of the season.

In basketball, he was an honorable-mention Class A all-state pick as a senior. In track, he won the long jump and pole vault state championships as a senior, setting a state record in the latter. Maher has pole vaulted 4.93m (16'-2").[3]

College career

Maher turned down other football scholarship offers to walk-on at the University of Nebraska.[4] As a redshirt freshman and as a sophomore, he appeared in all games as the holder for field goals and extra points, while also serving as the backup punter behind Alex Henery.

As a junior, he was named the starter at placekicker and punter after Henery graduated. He made 19-of-23 field goals, 43-of-44 extra points and averaged 44.5 yards per punt (sixth in school history). He received Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors three times, while being named Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year and Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year.[5] He became one of the few specialists in Big Ten history to be named All-Conference both at kicker and punter in the same season.

As a senior, the school awarded him with a football scholarship. He made 20-of-27 field goals, all of his 59 extra point attempts, 57 touchbacks out of 96 kickoffs, and averaged 41.8 yards per punt. His 20 field goals ranked second in school history for a season, and his 119 points set a record for most points scored by a kicker. He ranked third overall in conference in scoring and first among kickers. He received the Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker-of-the-Year Award for the second straight year.[6]

He finished his career with 39-of-50 made field goals (78%), 219 points, 120 punts for a 43.2-yard average and 43 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Collegiate statistics
Season GP Kicking Punting
XPMXPAXP%FGMFGAFG%PtsPuntsYdsAvg
2011 13434497.7192382.6100592,62644.5
2012 145959100.0202774.1119612,55241.8
Career2710210399.0395078.02191205,17843.2

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span
6 ft 0 in
(1.83 m)		 186 lb
(84 kg)		 31+5⁄8 in
(0.80 m)		 9+1⁄8 in
(0.23 m)
All values from NFL Combine[7][8]

New York Jets

Maher was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets after the 2013 NFL Draft on May 12, earning the contract following a rookie minicamp tryout.[9] He was waived on July 23, to make room for placekicker Billy Cundiff.[10]

Dallas Cowboys

On August 11, 2013, Maher was signed by the Dallas Cowboys, to play in the preseason while Dan Bailey recovered from an injury.[11] He was released two weeks later on August 27.[12]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On May 1, 2014, Maher signed a contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[13] He played in two pre-season games for the Bombers before being released by the team due to the restrictions on the number of national and international players on the team's roster; the team kept their Canadian incumbent (Lirim Hajrullahu).[14]

Ottawa Redblacks

A few weeks after being released by Winnipeg, he signed with the Ottawa Redblacks.[14] In week four of the season, Maher was named the CFL's Special Teams Player of the Week after going 6-for-6 on field goals, scoring all the Redblacks' points in an 18–17 decision over the Toronto Argonauts. The victory marked the expansion club's first-ever win.[15] On May 13, 2015, he was released by the Redblacks because of a hip injury he suffered in the prior month, before the start of training camp.[16] He missed all but 4 games during the season due to the injury.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On May 19, 2016, Maher signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after taking part in a team mini-camp.[17] He completed 82% of his field goal attempts that season, going 41-for-50, and had a punt average of 45.9 yards.[18]

Cleveland Browns

On March 20, 2017, Maher signed with the Cleveland Browns.[19] On May 2, he was released after not being able to pass rookie Zane Gonzalez on the depth chart.[20]

Ottawa Redblacks (second stint)

On June 10, 2017, Maher signed with the Ottawa Redblacks. He achieved the same completion percentage as the previous season in Hamilton (82%), recording the same number of field goals (41) on 50 attempts. His punt average was 46.7 yards.[18]

2018 season

On April 4, 2018, Maher signed with the Dallas Cowboys, to limit the off-season workload of Dan Bailey.[21] He was 4 out of 5 field goal attempts in preseason, which included two 45-yarders and a 57-yard field goal. On September 1, in a surprise move, the Cowboys released Bailey, making Maher the team's kicker to start the season.[22] His NFL debut came in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, where he missed his first career field goal attempt (47 yards). He would then go on to make fifteen straight field goal attempts.

In Week 4, Maher kicked all four field goals (32, 43, 22, and 38 yards), including a 38-yard game-winner as time expired, in a 26–24 comeback win over the Detroit Lions, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[23] On October 14 in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Maher converted 4 field goals, including a 55-yarder which at the time was his career long and the second-longest field goal in AT&T Stadium behind Dan Bailey's 56-yard field goal. From Week 7 to Week 11, he missed either a field goal or an extra point in 4 straight games.

On November 18, Maher kicked a 48-yard game-winning field goal to beat the Atlanta Falcons.[24] On December 9, 2018, Maher kicked a new career-long 62-yard field goal against the Philadelphia Eagles as time expired in the first half. The field goal also set a franchise record and tied for the third-longest in NFL history.

In Week 16, Maher converted two field goals (including the second longest in franchise history-59 yards) and three extra points in a 27–20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[25] He made 5-of-8 (63%) field goal attempts in the final 4 games (not including playoffs), missing a field goal in three of the last 4 games.

He finished with 29-of-36 field goals (80.6%), 32-of-33 extra points and 67.5% touchbacks of his kickoffs. He ranked eighth in the league with 29 field goals and tied for most field goals of at least 50 yards (6), which also tied a franchise record for a single-season. He was 25th in field goal percentage and tied for 11th in the league in accuracy from 40 to 49 yards (7-of-11).

2019 season

In 2019, Maher struggled with his accuracy during the preseason, but the team showed confidence on his ability by not bringing another kicker to compete with him. On October 13, in a loss against the New York Jets, Maher became the first kicker in NFL history to have two made field goals of 62 or more yards in a career.[26] On October 6, he made one out of 3 field goal attempts against the Green Bay Packers.

On October 20, Maher set a new career long and broke his own Cowboys franchise record when he scored a 63-yard field goal against the Philadelphia Eagles. On the game, he converted all four of his extra points and all three of his field goals, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[27] Maher kept struggling during the season with accuracy issues, but the team was patient, waiting for him to play through it. On November 28, he missed 2 field goals (one deflected) in the 15–26 loss against the Buffalo Bills.

On December 5, Maher missed a 42-yard field goal in the 31–24 loss against the Chicago Bears, his 10th miss of the season. Although he converted a 31-yard attempt in the final two minutes to cut the lead to 7 points, he also hit a kickoff out of bounds early in the fourth quarter, helping the Bears take over at their own 40-yard line. After the game he was quoted in the media as saying: "I felt like I hit every ball pretty well tonight. I'll put my head on the pillow tonight feeling good about what I did this week and moving forward".[28]

On December 9, with the team having lost three consecutive games and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs, Maher was released by the Cowboys due to accuracy concerns.[29] He finished the season converting just 20-of-30 field goals (67%), 7-of-13 (54%) on attempts between 30 and 49 yards, missing at least one attempt in 8 of 13 games and making all 36 extra points. He also set NFL career (3) and single-season (2) records for most field goals made of over 60 yards. He was replaced by Kai Forbath.

New York Jets (second stint)

On December 31, 2019, the Jets signed Maher to a reserve/futures contract and was waived on August 31, 2020.[30][31]

Washington Commanders

Maher signed with the practice squad of the Washington Commanders on September 10, 2020,[32] before being released on September 30, 2020.[33]

Houston Texans

On October 12, 2020, Maher was signed to the Houston Texans' practice squad.[34] He was released on December 14, 2020.[35]

Arizona Cardinals

On December 25, 2020, Maher was signed to the Arizona Cardinals' practice squad.[36] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021.[37] On March 20, 2021, Maher was waived after the Cardinals signed placekicker Matt Prater.[38]

New Orleans Saints

On August 10, 2021, Maher signed with the New Orleans Saints.[39] He was waived/injured on August 17 and placed on injured reserve. He was waived on August 21, 2021. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 16.[40] He was promoted to the active roster on November 19, 2021.[41] In Week 13 against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, Maher was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts as the Saints lost 27–17. In Week 15 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he was responsible for the only points in the game making all three of his field goal attempts in a 9–0 victory. He was waived again on February 22, 2022.[42]

Dallas Cowboys (third stint)

On August 9, 2022, the Dallas Cowboys signed Maher after releasing Jonathan Garibay to compete for the kicking position with Lirim Hajrullahu.[43] He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.[44][45] On September 17, 2022, the Cowboys promoted Maher from the practice squad. In the Cowboys' eventual win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Maher kicked a 54-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 50-yard field goal with three seconds left to seal the 20–17 upset win.[46]

On September 26, 2022, Maher hit three field goals in a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants. But before halftime he just missed left of the uprights from 59 yards out, giving him a 3-for-4 performance.[47]

On October 2, 2022, Maher hit all four field goals (53, 45, 28, 29) against the Washington Commanders, although he did have an extra point blocked, his fourth extra point miss of his career.[48]

On November 20, 2022, he converted all four field goals against the Minnesota Vikings, three of which were 50 yards or longer, including a 60-yard field goal that he had to make twice, because of a play review by the officiating crew. Maher became the first kicker in NFL history to convert four field goals from 60 or more yards. Maher finished the season 29-of-32 on field goal attempts and 9-for-11 on 50+ yard field goals. He also set the franchise record for most field goals made over 50 yards in a season.

On January 16, 2023, Maher missed four of five extra point attempts during the Cowboys' Wild Card Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the most missed extra points in a game (regular season or playoffs) since extra points were first tracked in 1932.[49][50] [51][52][53]

On January 22, 2023, he made 2-of-2 field goal attempts and had his first extra point of the game blocked against the San Francisco 49ers.

Even though he struggled in the postseason, Maher had one of the best kicking regular seasons in franchise history, by making 29-of-32 field goals (90.6%), with 2 misses coming from 59-yard attempts, and was nine of 11 (82%) from 50-plus yards. He made 50-of-53 extra points attempts, with two of them being blocked. He led the league with 78 touchback kickoffs. He also set Cowboys single-season kicking records with 137 points scored and 9 field goals made of 50-plus yards. After the season, it was reported that Maher chose not to re-sign with the team.[54]

Denver Broncos

On July 25, 2023, Maher signed with the Denver Broncos.[55] Maher was released after the Broncos announced that they had traded for former Saints kicker Wil Lutz on August 29, 2023.[56]

Los Angeles Rams

On August 30, 2023, the Los Angeles Rams signed Maher to their practice squad.[57][58] Maher was elevated from the practice squad for the Rams opener against the Seattle Seahawks where he went 3-for-5 on field goals and was reverted back to the practice squad after the game.[59] He was promoted to the active roster on September 12, 2023.[60] Maher was released on October 24, 2023 after missing three kicks in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers two days prior.[61]

NFL career statistics
Year Team GP Overall FGs PATs Pts
LngFGMFGAPctXPMXPAPct
2018DAL 1655293680.6323397.0119
2019DAL 1363203066.73636100.096
2021NO 842161888.9101283.358
2022DAL 1760293290.6505394.3137
2022 DAL 7 54 17 23 73.9 12 13 92.3 63
Career616311113979.914014795.8473

NFL Records
  • Most 60+ yard field goals made in a career (4)

Cowboys Records
  • Cowboys single-season kicking records with 137 points scored and 9 field goals made of 50-plus yards.

References
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  2. Edwards, Ryan. "Brett Maher's journey: Former Kearney High kicker makes NFL roster". Kearney Hub. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  3. Huskers bio on Maher. Retrieved Sep 1, 2023
  4. "Brett Maher College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  5. "Nebraska Huskers Profile". huskers.com. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  6. "Huskers earn five spots on All-Big Ten". Husker247. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
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  54. Archer, Todd. "Cowboys sign USFL standout Brandon Aubrey to vie for kicker job". ESPN. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  55. DiLalla, Aric. "Broncos sign K Brett Maher, WR Nick Williams". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
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