“The Bucs Finally Have Their Kicker”
August 20th, 2019
Answered prayer?
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
After weekly reports of his training camp exploits, 60-yard field goals that damn near cleared the uprights, rookie kicker Matt Gay became something of a folk hero.
Tormented and tortured with rotten kickers for years, Bucs fans wanted to see this Gay to believe in the urban legend. Then, last week Gay kicked a 48-yard field goal to win a preseason game over Miami after booting the longest field NFL field goal in the history of Heinz Field.
Bucs fans let out a collective sigh of relief. Maybe the madness is over? Joe still thinks it may be a dream.
Well, closet Bucs fan Peter Schrager of “Good Morning Football,” seen weekday mornings on NFL Network, could barely contain his excitement over Gay. Schrager says Gay booting that game-winning kick was one of the most important plays in Week 2 of the preseason.
The biggest winners of the weekend?
How about the @Buccaneers, who appear to have finally (hopefully?) found their kicker?
Matt Gay booted another beauty, and for the first time in a decade, @PSchrags says it seems like that position on the depth chart is settled. pic.twitter.com/mR4GQaHeXr
— GMFB (@gmfb) August 19, 2019
August 20th, 2019 at 9:04 am
Uh, nope. Too early to say that. Hit a couple FGs in real games in pressure situations first.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:07 am
lol this just tells you how bad the bucs are as a franchise and how far they have fallen the last decade. we fans are celebrating a kicker making kicks. tough times indeed
August 20th, 2019 at 9:08 am
Licht, trade Santos and get something of value please. Prove you’re a worthy GM!
August 20th, 2019 at 9:11 am
Say what you will, but it kicked have cost us at least three games a season the last few years.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:28 am
Another article about a kicker, geez. Although this does remind me of something that I have thought about for quite some time. Why in the world would an organization not combine the kicker and punter into one player??? It would open up a very valuable roster spot. Punters don’t even punt anymore they simply drop the ball straight down and rugby kick it. The days of the spiraling punt are long gone.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:30 am
As a Bucs fan, I celebrate when we make extra points.
And that is a sad reality. There should be little to no doubt the kick will be good, yet here we are.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:31 am
As the immortal Chris Thomas would say………”I’m……” “I am no longer…..”
August 20th, 2019 at 9:31 am
Joe has become the leader of the growing free pass nation of low standard bucfan….. until they earn it on Sunday’s CONSISTENTLY bucs have nothing but bums
Let’s play along.
1) Bucs draft a kicker (Joe didn’t)
2) Kicker makes kicks in practice and preseason
3) Teams keep one kicker
4) Joe is pleased and shares a national report on the kicker
5) Joe isn’t worried about keeping Gay. If he sucks, the Bucs will find another. Hopefully, with Arians in charge, the Bucs aren’t just guessing. –Joe
August 20th, 2019 at 9:36 am
Just maybe gay is the answer. We will see wen the real bullets start firing #endthedrought
August 20th, 2019 at 9:43 am
do it in the regular season and i’ll believe
August 20th, 2019 at 9:56 am
Not so fast…. let’s wait until the real bullets start to fly. Keep two kickers until we know that Gay is the real deal.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:57 am
Wouldn’t it be something if Arians kept Santos because he wanted a veteran? lol
I know I’d be ticked.
Keep Both, or keep Gay.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:59 am
I will wait until its 90 degrees out at the new sombrero and he makes 1 extra point in a real game
August 20th, 2019 at 10:01 am
Slugglife Says
“As a Bucs fan, I celebrate when we make extra points.
And that is a sad reality. There should be little to no doubt the kick will be good, yet here we are.”
Blame that on the fans. For years they wanted the extra point attempt removed because it was automatic. so instead the NFL moved the kick to make it more difficult and not automatic.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:07 am
For those of you begging Licht to find a trade partner for a 30 year old kicker who was on the verge of being out of the league before signing with the Bucs… ain’t gonna happen.
I am very excited about the rook, though. He looks the part. No more dear in the headlights looks from our kicker. Give this kid a real chance. He will miss a few just like every kicker will – but gotta love the moxie he shows.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:18 am
joe joe joe man you been handing out free passes since day one but I’ll play along on this one. you always have a punching bag yet give free passes to players that are worse on the field than your punching bag…. dotson comes to mind…Joe wrote many times through the years that Dotson was below average, Joe even got a bunch of in-person crap for it from one of Dotson’s biggest fans. However, Dotson improved. He’s not great, but he has played far over his head as an undrafted free agent. Somehow, your beloved tough-guy genius Bruce Arians thinks Dotson is just the correct right tackle to pay $5 million this season. –Joe you did not post your first objective piece on cancer93 to well after she was gone…Joe has written numerous objective pieces on McCoy. Time to lay off the sauce.–Joe thanks for the great work it’s tough producing content for a team with no hope and that is a laughingstock league wide for their on-field play and minor league ownership.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:21 am
Let me see him nail PATs and shorter FGs in the regular season, and I will become a believer.
I will say this: his powerful leg means he doesn’t need a long backswing and excessive follow through to generate power, like a golfer with a long driver. Yeah, a big, long club generates power…if the form is correct. Most golfers would be better off with a 5-iron in the tee box to hit fairways consistently and out of the rough and penalty areas.
His short chip shot motion generates plenty of power, and lowers the chances of form screw-ups. He is the exact opposite of Aguayo who had a massive motion with huge chances of error. He also seems to have his head screwed on right, a good married Mormon boy.
I have no doubt Santos will catch on elsewhere for Game 1.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:31 am
Can’t blame it on the fans. I blame it on our kickers missing what should be near automatic from a player getting paid millions to consistently make kicks.
I actually like the longer PAT. Still expect better than 90% successful PATs.
August 20th, 2019 at 10:58 am
This first time the rook misses a kick will lead to outright condemnation of both the player and the GM who drafted him…that’s how traumatized we are, how terrible out kicking game has been over the past near-decade. Assuming he’s our kicker (which is fairly safe at this point), let’s all recognize that there’ll ups and downs, just like any rookie, at any position. Here’s the good news though, Gay is refreshingly self-aware and clearly gifted. He has the potential to be a huge contributor/difference-maker this year and for seasons to come.
August 20th, 2019 at 11:02 am
Gay will score the most points in the NFL this season. Suck it haters.
August 20th, 2019 at 11:11 am
Good. I like the Kid…
August 20th, 2019 at 11:12 am
When Janikowski was drafted, he also had this type of leg. He played for what, 20!years? Oh and he struggled his rookie year. The raiders stuck with him and the rest is history.
August 20th, 2019 at 11:21 am
Closet and Gay in the same story….hmm
August 20th, 2019 at 11:39 am
I am now officially on the Gay train!! I will enjoy drinking my Zimas and watching us put up stiff competition all year and back into the playoffs!
August 20th, 2019 at 11:46 am
Hmm …. hmm
August 20th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
“ I am now officially on the Gay train! I will enjoy drinking my Zima’s …”
Pure genius! Lol
August 20th, 2019 at 12:43 pm
Let’s fly in saggy baker for some heckling and see how mentally tough he is.
August 20th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
“Unleash the Kraken”
August 20th, 2019 at 3:06 pm
He tied the record at Heinz field for longest kick made. Im down with him being the kicker. Hes shown good composer coming in and nailing a game winning field goal. Yes it was a pre season game. They dont count but they do matter. Unleash the Kraken!!!!
August 20th, 2019 at 3:12 pm
I’m getting the dudes jersey.
August 20th, 2019 at 4:52 pm
Once he misses a kick the Tampa faithful will boo him. This is pergatory for kickers.
August 20th, 2019 at 6:27 pm
Change my mind.
By actually doing it in the regular season.
For 10 seasons straight. I have been totally pissed off since we cut Bryant and the Matt Curse must be lifted.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:14 pm
Let’s see how the real games unfold…….then I will jump on the “Gay” Bandwagon (no pun intended). Meaning happy as all get ‘up that we finally have a kicker who doesn’t choke on a regular basis. I’m all for Gay! btw, In a heterosexual way. And besides that…..not that it really matters either way.
August 20th, 2019 at 9:23 pm
TMAX. Please, respectively, lay off Joe for simply reporting the facts. True, the Joe’s put on a tid bit of drama…….. but it is because they are simply trying to report the news in a readable forum. As someone once told me……………..”Don’t come to me with a problem if you have no solution.” If you do then you are a part of the problem. A lot of what you say is the cold hard truth but jeeez man, if you are a true Buccaneer fan why don’t you try a bit of optimism. Give us somethin’ to go on than be drug down with the past. If this team fails miserably this year then you have the right to post the same. Until then………………lets wait till the toe hits the leather brother! Just saying.
August 21st, 2019 at 1:02 am
Lol yeah Schrager, lets proclaim the problem solved before one meaningful kick is attempted…..that always works out well for Buc fan