Kai Forbath

Kai August Forbath (born September 2, 1987) is an American football placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA and was recognized as an All-American and the best college kicker in the country in 2009. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2011.

Early years

Forbath was born in Santa Monica, California. He attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. During his last two prep seasons, he converted 26 of 33 field goal attempts and scored 213 total points, with a long field goal of 57 yards. He also forced touchbacks on 150 of 188 kickoffs and made 134 of 135 extra point attempts. Forbath also served as the team's punter and had a punting average of 46 yards that led to him being named to the Los Angeles Times' All-Star team at punter. Forbath subsequently earned high school All-American recognition by USA Today.^[1] In addition to football, Forbath also played soccer in the West Valley Samba Soccer League (National Premier Soccer League). Following his senior season, Forbath was invited to play in the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the CaliFlorida Bowl.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Forbath was listed as the No. 1 placekicker in the nation among the class of 2006.^[2] He picked UCLA over California, Notre Dame, Oregon, and others.

College career

Forbath at UCLA in 2009

Forbath attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played for the UCLA Bruins football team from 2006 to 2010. After redshirting his initial year at UCLA, Forbath made 25 of 30 field goals and all 30 points after touchdowns (PATs) for a team-high 105 points in 2007. He became the first UCLA player to record five field goals of at least 50 yards in a season, including a freshman-best 54-yarder versus Oregon. In his sophomore year, Forbath received first-team All-Pacific-10 honors after making 19 of 22 field goals on the season, including his last 13 straight.

As a junior in 2009, he connected on another three field goals from 50 yards or more and has now made 9 of 12 tries from that length. Competing with Leigh Tiffin of Alabama and Blair Walsh of Georgia, Forbath was named the winner of the 2009 Lou Groza Award, recognizing the best college placekicker.^[3]

On September 25, 2010, Forbath kicked two field goals in leading the Bruins to an upset victory over the No. 7 ranked Texas Longhorns 34–12 in front of a stadium-record 101,437 fans in Austin, Texas. Previous week, Forbath kicked a 42-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter to give the Bruins a 24–3 lead in the game against then-No. 23 Houston. UCLA defeated Houston 31–13. On November 6, 2010, Forbath kicked a game winning 51-yard field goal in the last second of the game to give the Bruins a 17–14 win over Oregon State, and he was named Pac-10 Conference Special Team Player-of-the-Week.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Although he was projected as the second-best kicker in the 2011 NFL Draft, Forbath was not selected in the Draft. On August 2, he was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent, but because he had a pre-existing quad injury that didn't allow him to practice and that it would take a lengthy time to heal, he was immediately placed on the active non-football injury list. At the time the Cowboys had an open competition for the placekicker job and were covering themselves in case a player didn't emerge out of the 4 kickers they had in training camp at one time.

On August 30, he was placed on the Non-Football Injury list, so he wouldn't count towards the first 80-player cut and later towards the 53-player limit.^[4] The performance of fellow rookie Dan Bailey made the Cowboys decide to keep Forbath on the NFI list during all of the regular season.^[5]

On April 16, 2012, he was waived, having never participated in a practice with the team.^[6]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed Forbath off waivers on April 17, 2012. During preseason, Forbath made five out of five field goal attempts, including a successful 55-yard kick.^[7]

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins signed Forbath on October 9, 2012, replacing Billy Cundiff.^[8][9][10] Forbath made his NFL and Redskins debut knocking through a 50-yarder as his first career NFL field goal in the home game against the Minnesota Vikings on October 14, 2012.^[11] His performance was essential in the Redskins' victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14, where he recorded 48 and 49-yard field goals and then a game-winning 34-yard field goal in overtime.^[12]

On December 23, 2012, Forbath set the NFL record for consecutive field goals to begin a career with 17 in a row, beating Garrett Hartley, who previously held the record at 16.^[13][14] The ball was sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.^[15]

In Week 7 of the 2014 season, Forbath scored the game-winning field goal in the 19–17 win over the Tennessee Titans.^[16][17] He then was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring the overtime winning field goal against the Dallas Cowboys the following week.^[18] He would once again score the game-winning field goal in the 27–24 Week 16 win over the Eagles.^[19]

The Redskins offered Forbath a $1,542,000 right of first refusal tender on March 8, 2015,^[20] which he signed on April 15, 2015.^[21] Forbath was released on September 14, 2015.^[22]

Forbath finished his career with the Redskins as the second-most accurate kicker in team history, converting 87.0 percent of his field goal attempts (60-of-69). His mark of 60 field goals, and 91 PATs rank fifth in franchise history.^[23]

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints signed Forbath on October 19, 2015, to replace a struggling Zach Hocker.^[24]

Forbath played in first career game as a Saint against the Indianapolis Colts on October 25, 2015, converting on three-of-four PAT attempts.^[25]

On November 1, 2015, Forbath ended a record-breaking 52–49 shootout at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a 50-yard field goal as time expired. Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Giants quarterback Eli Manning set an NFL record with 13 combined passing touchdowns, including Brees' record-tying seventh of the day. Although Brees and other Saints were spectacular, Forbath received the coach's game ball.

On November 29, 2015, Forbath kicked a career-long 57-yard field goal against the Houston Texans, which is the third-longest in team history.^[26]

On January 3, 2016, Forbath kicked a 30-yard game-winning field goal in Week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons as time expired, his sixth career game-winner.^[27]

On March 10, 2016, the Saints re-signed Forbath.^[28] Throughout the team's 2016 preseason, Forbath competed with Connor Barth, and the Saints ultimately kept Forbath while cutting Barth. However, a few days later, on September 6, 2016, the Saints also released Forbath in favor of an undrafted rookie kicker, Wil Lutz, who had gone through training camp with the Baltimore Ravens.^[29]

Minnesota Vikings

On November 16, 2016, the Minnesota Vikings signed Forbath to a one-year, $760,000 contract after releasing incumbent kicker Blair Walsh. His first game with the Vikings he missed no field goals or point afters. ^[30][31]

Career Statistics

References

External links

• Minnesota Vikings bio
• Washington Redskins bio
• UCLA Bruins football bio