Kai Forbath
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Kai August Forbath (born September 2, 1987) 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 ...
. 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
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
and was recognized as an All-American and the best college kicker in the country in 2009. Forbath was signed by the Cowboys 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 ...
in 2011, and has played for
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
,
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
,
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
,
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
,
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 ...
,
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, and
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
.


Early years

Forbath was born in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. He attended Notre Dame High School in
Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...
. During Forbath's last two
prep PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allo ...
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 The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
All-Star team at punter. Forbath subsequently earned high school All-American recognition by ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''. In addition to football, Forbath also played
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
in the West Valley Samba Soccer League (
National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...
). 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 Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, Forbath was listed as the No. 1 placekicker in the nation among the class of 2006. He picked UCLA over
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Notre Dame,
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, among others.


College career

Forbath attended
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, where he played for the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
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 Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. 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, Forbath connected on another three field goals from 50 yards or more and had then made 9-of-12 tries from that distance. Competing with
Leigh Tiffin Van Leigh Tiffin, Jr. (born August 3, 1988) is a former American football kicker. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Alabama. Named for his father, he is called Leigh to distin ...
of
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
and
Blair Walsh Blair Richard Walsh (born January 8, 1990) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. Walsh played college football at Georgia and was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. In his first year, Walsh set ...
of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, Forbath was named the winner of the 2009
Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has be ...
, recognizing the best placekicker in college football. On September 25, 2010, Forbath kicked two field goals in leading the Bruins to an upset victory over the #7
Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
34–12 in front of a stadium-record 101,437 fans in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. In the previous week, Forbath kicked a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Bruins a 24–3 lead in the game against then-#23
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. UCLA defeated Houston by a score of 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 Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...
, 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 The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...
, Forbath was not selected in the Draft.
Alex Henery Alex Henery (born August 17, 1987) is a former American football kicker. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and set an NCAA record for field goal accuracy with an 89.5% success rate. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagl ...
ended up being the only kicker selected in the draft that year. On August 2, Forbath was signed by 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 ...
as an undrafted free agent, but because he had a pre-existing quad injury that did not allow him to practice and that 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 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 ...
job and were covering themselves in case a player did not emerge from the four kickers they had in training camp at one time. On August 30, he was placed on the Non-Football Injury list, so he would not count towards the first 80-player cut and later towards the 53-player limit. The performance of fellow rookie Dan Bailey made the Cowboys decide to keep Forbath on the NFI list during all of the regular season. On April 16, 2012, Forbath was waived by the Cowboys, having never participated in a practice with the team.


Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
claimed Forbath off waivers on April 17, 2012. During the preseason, Forbath made all five field goal attempts, including a successful 55-yard kick.


Washington Redskins

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 ...
signed Forbath on October 9, 2012, replacing
Billy Cundiff William Ambrose Cundiff (born March 30, 1980) is a former American football placekicker. He played college football for Drake University, and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2002. College career Cundiff played for ...
. Forbath made his NFL and Washington debut knocking through a 50-yard attempt as his first career NFL field goal in the home game against the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
in Week 6 on October 14, 2012. His performance was essential in Washington's victory over the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
in Week 14, where he recorded 48-yard and 49-yard field goals and then converted a game-winning 34-yard field goal in overtime. On December 23, 2012, in Week 16, Forbath set the NFL record for consecutive field goals to begin a career with 17 in a row, beating
Garrett Hartley Garrett Hartley (born May 16, 1986) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Later that year he became the placekicker for the New Orleans Saints, for whom he ...
, who previously held the record at 16. The football was sent to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
. On October 19, 2014, in Week 7, Forbath scored the game-winning field goal in the 19–17 win over the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
. He then was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring the overtime winning field goal against 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 ...
the following week. He would once again score the game-winning field goal in the 27–24 Week 16 win over the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
. Washington offered Forbath a $1,542,000 right of first refusal tender on March 8, 2015, which he signed on April 15, 2015. Forbath was released by the team on September 14, 2015. Forbath finished his career with Washington 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
extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...
s rank fifth in franchise history.


New Orleans Saints

The
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
signed Forbath on October 19, 2015, to replace a struggling Zach Hocker, who was released by the team. Forbath played in first career game as a member of the Saints in Week 7 against the
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 ...
on October 25, 2015, converting on three-of-four extra point attempts in the 27–21 victory. On November 1, in Week 8, Forbath ended a record-breaking 52–49 shootout against the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
at the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
with a 50-yard field goal as time expired. On November 29, in Week 12, Forbath kicked a career-long 57-yard field goal against the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
, which is the third-longest in team history. On January 3, 2016, Forbath kicked a 30-yard game-winning field goal in the regular season finale in Week 17 against the
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
as time expired, his sixth career game-winner. On March 10, 2016, the Saints re-signed Forbath. Throughout the team's 2016 preseason, Forbath competed with
Connor Barth Connor Thomas Barth (born April 11, 1986) is a former American football placekicker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undraft ...
, and the Saints ultimately kept Forbath while cutting Barth. However, a few days later, on September 6, the Saints also released Forbath in favor of an undrafted rookie kicker,
Wil Lutz William “Wil” Lutz (born July 7, 1994) is an American football placekicker for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia State. Early life Lutz was born in Newnan, Georgia. Both his ...
, who had gone through training camp with the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
.


Minnesota Vikings

On November 16, 2016, the Minnesota Vikings signed Forbath to a one-year, $760,000 contract after releasing incumbent kicker
Blair Walsh Blair Richard Walsh (born January 8, 1990) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. Walsh played college football at Georgia and was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. In his first year, Walsh set ...
. In Forbath's first game with the Vikings, in Week 11, he converted one field goal and three extra points against the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...
. On December 11, he kicked a season-high four field goals against the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
. He finished his first season with the Vikings going 15-15 on field goals and 11-14 on extra point attempts. On October 9, 2017, Forbath kicked two field goals, including the game-winner against the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
. In Week 7 of the 2017 season, Forbath converted six field goals, including a 52-yarder, in a 24–16 win over the Ravens, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He is one of three Vikings' kickers to kick six field goals in a game; the last time this happened was in 1998 ( Gary Anderson). On October 29, Forbath kicked four field goals against the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
. On January 14, 2018, Forbath kicked three field goals against the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
in the NFC Divisional Round. On March 20, 2018, Forbath re-signed with the Vikings. However, the team traded up to draft Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson the next month. On August 20, 2018, Forbath was released by the Vikings after losing the starting job to the rookie Carlson.


Jacksonville Jaguars

On December 14, 2018, Forbath was signed by the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
as insurance for the injured
Josh Lambo Joshua Gregory Lambo (born November 19, 1990) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and then signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 17, 2017. H ...
. He was released on February 19, 2019 after playing three games for the Jaguars, making four out of his five field goal attempts.


New England Patriots

On November 29, 2019, the New England Patriots signed Forbath after the team released
Nick Folk Nicholas Alexander Folk (born Niklaus Aleksandre Faulke, November 5, 1984) is an American football placekicker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona, where he received first-tea ...
, who had undergone an emergency
appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...
. Forbath became the fourth placekicker on the Patriots' active roster in the 2019 season, after longtime kicker
Stephen Gostkowski Stephen Carroll Gostkowski ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American football former placekicker who played for 15 years in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots. He was selected in the fourth round of th ...
was placed on injured reserve after Week 4, original replacement
Mike Nugent Michael Nugent (born March 2, 1982) is a former American football placekicker. He played college football for Ohio State University, and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round o ...
was released after four games, and Folk. He made his Patriots debut on December 1, 2019 in a Week 13 matchup against the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
handling only field goals and extra points (punter Jake Bailey handled kick-off duties) and went 1-for-2 on extra points and made a 23-yard field goal in a 28–22 loss. The Patriots waived Forbath the day after the game.


Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

On December 9, 2019, Forbath was signed by 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 ...
after the team released Brett Maher. He helped to stabilize the
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 ...
position and didn't miss a kick for the rest of the season, making 10-of-10 field goals and 10-of-10 extra points. On March 24, 2020, Forbath re-signed with the Cowboys. He was released on August 1, 2020, without having a chance to compete for the kicking job against Greg Zuerlein.


Carolina Panthers

On September 19, 2020, Forbath was signed to the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
practice squad, and was released on September 21, 2020. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 25 and released again on September 28.


Chicago Bears

On October 9, 2020, Forbath was signed to the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
practice squad.


Los Angeles Rams

On October 20, 2020, Forbath was signed by the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
off the Bears practice squad. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 10 and was placed on injured reserve on November 17, 2020. He was then released from injured reserve after the Rams signed kicker Matt Gay off the Colts practice squad.


NFL career statistics


References


External links


Jacksonville Jaguars bioMinnesota Vikings bioWashington Redskins bioUCLA Bruins football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbath, Kai 1987 births Living people All-American college football players American football placekickers Dallas Cowboys players New Orleans Saints players Players of American football from Santa Monica, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players UCLA Bruins football players Washington Redskins players Minnesota Vikings players Jacksonville Jaguars players New England Patriots players Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players Los Angeles Rams players