The NFL has changed drastically over its more than 100 years of existence, and there is another sport that has helped shape it to what it is today. Some athletes who previously strapped on their boots to play soccer have also put on shoulder pads, changing the way some of the game is played. Making those switches isn’t easy, though, as many soccer players are used to the negative comments made about the sport by football fans. Three players in particular had a major impact on both sports by breaking apart those arguments.
The first player in question used his time in soccer to influence his role as a kicker and change the way the position was played in the future. Pete Gogolak was a Hungarian immigrant who made his debut with the AFL’s Buffalo Bills. He grew up playing soccer and switched to football later in life. He kept the kicking style and used the side of his boot instead of hitting with his toe. He led the struggling AFL league in field goals and helped the team win its second straight AFL title.
After the NFL-AFL merger, the league’s top scorers, like Gogolak, were kickers. They became specialists instead of linemen, and their more accurate kicking distance forced the league to change the scoring positions and move the goal posts back.
While he hasn’t made the same history as Gogolak, Josh Lambo did turn heads when he turned down MLS for the NFL. Lambo didn’t just play high school soccer; he was a youth international, a trialist with English Premier League’s Everton, and an MLS SuperDraft Pick. He played with the second-tier team Tampa Bay Rowdies before quitting that storied career to attend the Texas A&M Aggies. That’s when he joined football and became the Aggies’ best kicker.
Lambo went undrafted after graduating in 2015, but signed on as a free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers before signing on with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played in Jacksonville for years before being released in 2021. That same year, he would voice complaints and claim Urban Meyer kicked him, playing a pivotal role in his firing. He also played briefly with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.
The most recent example of moving from soccer to the NFL is a player who spent time in the MLS. Brandon Aubrey is currently a kicker with the Dallas Cowboys. Before playing in Dallas, Aubrey was picked in the first round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.
This was also the time when Toronto’s academy team was starting to give them all-stars, putting Aubrey towards the back of the pack. He was moved to Toronto’s second team in the USL before being traded to Bethlehem Steel FC the next year. Overall, he had 49 professional soccer appearances without recording one goal.
After a somewhat disappointing career in professional soccer, Aubrey chose to switch to football, where he played for the USFL in 2022 and 2023. He was then signed by the Cowboys, where he set an NFL rookie record by making his first 35 field-goal tries. He’s also the first kicker to make both a 59-yard and a 60-yard kick in the same game.
The argument that football is better than soccer or vice versa is outdated and ridiculous. You’ll often hear die-hard football fans say soccer isn’t a real sport in the U.S., but the fact is, some of the best soccer players become well-played football players. Some of the best kickers seen in the NFL, most recently and notably Aubrey, are perfect examples of that. One of the biggest challenges Aubrey faced in getting into football was overcoming the notion that one sport is superior to another. If we stop the comparisons, we might have even better players on both sides.
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