Kerry Patrick Brady (born August 27, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Early years

Brady attended

Hudson's Bay High School Hudson's Bay High School is a public high school in the Central Park area of Vancouver, Washington, and is part of Vancouver Public Schools. It was founded in 1955 and was named after the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), as Fort Vancouver had been chos ...

in Vancouver, Washington graduating in 1981. He played soccer at Portland Community College in 1981-82 and won two Northwest championships, his soccer coach, Rudi Sommer, watched him kick 60 yard field goals with soccer balls at Civic Stadium and encouraged him to pursue a career in kicking footballs. He accepted a football scholarship from the

. He was a backup behind Richard Spelman as a sophomore and junior. As a senior, he was named the starter at

, making 16 out of 20 field goals (80%), 20 out of 22 extra points (90.9%) and 68 points.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Brady was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Marq ...

on April 1, who were looking for a replacement for

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

Rafael Septien. On August 25, he was waived after falling behind Roger Ruzek and

Luis Zendejas Luis Fernando Zendejas (born October 22, 1961) is a Mexican former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Arena Football ...

on the depth chart. After the

NFLPA The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

strike was declared on the third week of the 1987 season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. On October 17, he was re-signed to replace an injured Zendejas and be a part of the Dallas replacement team that was given the mock name "Rhinestone Cowboys" by the media. He played one game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, where he made one extra point. He was released after the strike ended on October 20.

Buffalo Bills (first stint)

On April 5,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

to compete against

Scott Norwood Scott Allan Norwood (born July 17, 1960) is a former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also played for the Birmingham Stallions in the United States Footb ...

. He was released on August 23.

Indianapolis Colts

On September 22,

, he was signed as a

by the

to handle the kickoffs, while starter

Dean Biasucci Dean Biasucci (born July 25, 1962) is a former placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams. Early years Biasucci played college football for the Western Carolina Catamounts, and ...

focused only on making

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s on the depth chart.

Green Bay Packers

On April 21, 1989, he was signed as a

by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

to compete for the starting job against rookie

Chris Jacke Christopher Lee Jacke (born March 12, 1966) is a former professional American football placekicker best known for playing for the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League. Before his NFL career, Jacke played collegiately at the Univer ...

. He was released on August 28.

Buffalo Bills (second tint)

On September 22, 1989, he was signed as a

by the

to handle the kickoffs instead of

. He appeared in 3 games. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, he was signed to compete against Norwood in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. He was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 28. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Personal life

Brady retired from football after four seasons and took a job in sales in the medical field. He is married to Christina Brady and has two children, Dakota and Dylan. Dylan was a placekicker at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He currently lives in Long Beach, California and owns a medical device company manufacturing X-Ray aprons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, Kerry 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state) American football placekickers Dallas Cowboys players Indianapolis Colts players Buffalo Bills players National Football League replacement players Portland Community College Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players