Perhaps destiny will one day give Cairo Santos the opportunity to set foot at the Maracaná to play a completely different football than the one he breathed as a Flamengo supporter. Having failed to find his way in Brazilian football, he ended up in the United States trying his luck with football until one day friends gave him an oval ball and he almost accidentally kicked it four houses away. This is how the first Brazilian in the NFL revealed his future. At 34, he started with the Chicago Bears, one of the most involved in international expansion. He performs one of the most thankless jobs, the theoretical procedure of pocketing the ball between the sticks after his teammates have run down the field. And ask for the possibility of doing it at home. “It would be a surreal moment. I hope the NFL gives me that gift.”
The first time Santos encountered American football, he didn’t know what he was seeing. “I was flipping through the channels looking for a football game, but it was Sunday night and there wasn’t one. I turned on ESPN and saw a field with lines, it was a Super Bowl. I held on for a while and kept looking for football.” After the anecdote, it was time to take his football projection “to the next level”. “In Brazil there is so much competition that I couldn’t find a place. My father told me he would pay for me to study for a year in the United States. Let’s see what happens, but at least we are investing in your education. And I started looking for a school with a good educational program. soccer“This teen sent out resumes and videos to find housing in Florida with St. Joseph. In the meantime, he assimilated the culture. “American football is the number one sport, so I started going out with friends and going to games.”
And they opened the door for him. “Man, you got such a kick you could be a kicker (kicker)”. He didn’t see it clearly. “I don’t want to get hurt, my dream is football.” They convinced him that the kicker He only goes out on the field to kick and rarely makes contact with his opponent. So one Sunday they stopped watching the NFL, went out to the backyard and held the ball for him. “My friends started counting steps and said I walked 60 meters. That’s not possible!” The next day, he talked to the high school coach and gave him the opportunity: “Let’s see what you’re worth. » And he put a field objective — a kick between the sticks — 50 meters. “Kid, you have the talent to get a scholarship and, who knows, you can turn professional. You’re good.” Their priorities have therefore changed. “My dream was football, but to have a paid education and be able to have a career…”
So he continued to Florida, went to Tulane University and came to the NFL in 2014 as a player for the Kansas City Chiefs. In doing so, Santos, who attended the group interview via video call from Chicago, embraced his role as “ambassador” to his country. “It became a goal for me to develop this sport in my country. Brazilians consume more and more NFL and hosting a game there was a dream come true for thousands of fans.” The Corinthians Arena in São Paulo began in 2024 with the duel between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers which will be repeated on September 5 with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Chiefs. “When I try to convince people to watch me, I tell them that when you learn the rules, football takes strategy to another level. And the kickers They play an important role in how these matches are decided. It’s like scoring a penalty at the last minute. In the NFL, we do this a lot.
The objective of an attack is to reach the end of the field and thus achieve a landing. In this equation, the kicker It’s a consolation when the defense stops moving forward and the ball is close to go looking for the sticks. The points he scores with these kicks, the field objectiveor the additional conversion point after obtaining the landing These are keys to the arithmetic of a result. It is common for teams to run out of time on the last attack to score a final kick at the buzzer, because it leaves the opponent no time and because the risk of making a mistake is lower than advancing with a pass or running. The kicker is therefore presumed successful. “I simulate kicks almost daily when I play these kinds of moments in my head. You learn to talk to yourself and get into your routine, because it helps block out the meaning of the kick or noise. That way, when you go out on the field, it’s just you and your head, following this list of checks treat this room like any other. That’s the big goal. » Something your colleagues know. “Always let him kicker in his routine, don’t go encouraging him.
For now, it’s working, as the Bears are playing their best season in nearly two decades and enter the final weeks with all the ballots to play the playoffs and discuss the division title with the Packers. “We’ve earned the opportunity to play for big things this year.” This football-loving kid loved Ronaldinho, so he doesn’t hide the hope of one day playing at the renovated Camp Nou. “For many kids my age the pinnacle of Brazilian football was watching him play in Barcelona, it’s one of the temples, we don’t have stadiums in the NFL with that many spectators. I would sleep very happy that night saying I played where he or Messi played.” A real scenario after the Santiago Bernabéu hosted the first official NFL game in Spain in November and Chicago applied to play in the country in 2026 if the league fulfills its commitment to return.
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