It’s no secret the Chicago Bears are in the market for a kicker. Cody Parkey needed only one season to wear out his welcome. Not only by missing 11 kicks in 17 games but also by his misguided decision to appear on the Today Show after the playoff loss to Philadelphia. It is clear that his priorities are more for himself than the team, which is why GM Ryan Pace stated his plans to bring in competition.
The Bears already signed a street free agent to the roster but nobody expects them to be done. Odds are they add at least one more leg to the mix before training camp this summer. The question is where will it come from? Some surmise the free agent market will be the likely avenue, but others believe Pace may try to find somebody in the draft.
Chicago is finally in a position roster-wise where they don’t have any glaring needs. So they could use one of their five picks this year to lock down the position that is probably their worst in terms of reliability. Most have been focused on LSU standout Cole Tracy as the top option, but it appears NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein disagrees. That honor belongs to Matt Gay of Utah.
“Surprising omission from the Senior Bowl, Gay is a big boy with an even bigger leg who has the ability to drive both the long field goal and the long kickoff. The former soccer player has an awkward, three-step approach to strike field goals which may require some work to make a roster on the next level.”
Matt Gay would be such a Chicago Bears kicker it’s not even funny
Gay is a Utah native who made his name at his home state school. In two years with the program, he connected on 56-of-65 field goals for an 86.2% accuracy rate. Considering the weather fluctuations out there, it’s a fairly impressive feat. Yet that’s not the best part. One thing about Gay? He doesn’t look like other kickers. He looks more like the poster child of the “Dad bod” generation.
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Gay checks in at 6’0, 232 lbs. That is not only big but fairly gigantic for an NFL kicker. Keep in mind most tend to hover between 200 to 210 lbs. So he’s 22 lbs north of the average. This would put him close to the same tier as kicking legend Sebastian Janikowski, the man who made overweight kickers cool for years in Oakland at 260 lbs.
If there’s one thing about Chicago fans that’s proven true over the years, they love big guys. William Perry. Tommie Harris. Akiem Hicks. Big guys who happen to also be great at what they do is something this city seems to get behind a lot. So try to imagine if they suddenly took in the biggest young kicker in recent history and he ended up fixing the biggest problem on the team.
The next folk hero will have been born.
