Packers are designing a kicker for the first time in 16 years and he has a brother who is already an NFL kicker

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By Webdesk



For the first time since 2006, the Green Bay Packers are likely to have someone other than Mason Crosby kicking in front of them.

Crosby’s contract expired at the end of the season and he not only remained unsigned, but the Packers took another big step away from him when they selected Auburn kicker Anders Carlson with the 207th overall pick in the NFL Draft on Saturday. Carlson’s brother, Daniel, is currently the kicker for the Raiders.

Anders’ roster marks the first time since 2007 that the Packers have used a draft pick on a kicker. The last time it happened was 16 years ago when they used the 193rd overall pick on Crosby. Since then, Crosby has been on the field for every game the Packers have played.

The addition of Anders means the Packers now have two kickers on the roster with the newly drafted rookie joining Parker White, who signed a future contract with the team in January.

If White and Anders compete for the job in training camp, there’s no guarantee that Carlson will walk away victorious. The former Auburn kicker struggled in 2022 and he’s not having a booming leg. During his senior college season, Carlson scored only 70.6% of his field goals (12 of 17), including an ugly 50% from over 40 yards. In the past two seasons, Carlson’s longest punt was from 49 yards, going 0-for-4 on punts over 50.

However, if Carlson wins the job, it will set the stage for an NFL rarity: a sibling battle. The Raiders are playing Green Bay this year, meaning the Carlson brothers could kick each other this fall.

The Carlsons could just become the sixth set of brothers to both enter the NFL at the same time. The first time it happened was with Pete Gogolak (1964-74) and his brother Charlie (1966-72).

In the 1970s, Nick Mike-Mayer (1973-83) and his brother Steve (1975-80) both spent time kicking in the NFL. The most successful brother duo was probably the Bahrs, with both Chris (1976-89) and Matt (1979-95) playing in the NFL for over a decade.

The Zendejas family produced THREE brothers who entered the NFL, though all three had relatively short careers. Joaquin played two games in 1983, while his brothers Max (1986-88) and Luis (1987-89) both played three seasons, two of which overlapped. They also had a cousin in Tony Zendejas, who kicked ass from 1985 to 1995.

The most recent brothers to kick in the NFL at the same time are the Gramaticas. Martin spent 10 seasons in the NFL (1999-2008) while his brother Bill spent four years in the league (2001-04).

As for Crosby, if he’s not on the field for the opener, it will be the first time since 2006 that he’s not the kicker for Green Bay. The last player to kick for the Packers before Crosby was Dave Rayner, who was Green Bay’s kicker for the team’s regular season finale on December 31, 2006.





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