Have you ever been hired for a new job, perhaps in a position that fulfills all your collegiate hopes and dreams, but the first couple of months go so badly you now consider yourself a fraud and show up every day with the assumption this could be your last? Sucks, right? Well, whatever your current employment situation—and we here at VICE Sports sincerely hope it comes together—at least it isn't playing out on televisions, smartphones, and fantasy rosters across the board.Last spring, the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded third-and-fourth round draft picks to grab Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo at No. 59 overall, which drew an emphatic "Yeah! Kickers are second-rounders too, baby!"out of NFL Network host Rich Eisen. Drafting a kicker that high brought out some mild boo birds, but in college, Aguayo possessed an otherworldly foot. He is the most accurate kicker in college football history, converting 96.73% of his boots and never missing on field goals inside the 40 or extra points. Sure, 2014 saw NCAA kickers hit a record high .969% on extra points, but still, Aguayo was so sure of his skills he left college early like some damn quarterback or somethin'.
Aguyao's career could not have started any worse. In preseason, he missed two field goals and an extra point, and coming into last night's game, he was 1-3 on field goals and had bricked yet another extra point. Befitting the Bucs Halloween color scheme, Aguyao was like teenager in a house of horrors in Carolina. He started strong and confident, then freaked the hell out presumably wondering why the hell he was there in the first place, then went deeper and darker into the fright show, and came out alright in the fresh air. To wit:Field goal No. 1 from 35-yards: Good!Field goal No. 2 from 33-yards: Doink!Field goal No. 3, potential game-winner with 3:38 left: Wide Right! (That old Seminole refrain.)Field goal No. 4, from 38-yards out at the buzzer: GOOD!Following the victory, which moved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 2-3 (and tugged Superman's cape into the turf, as the non-repeating Super Bowl representative Panthers are 1-4) head coach Dirk Koetter had nothing but muted praise for his young kicker. He told ESPN's Lisa Salter right after Aguyao knocked the game-winner through the uprights:"I wasn't comfortable," Koetter said of the game-ending scenario. "We couldn't have gotten close enough."Sometimes it takes a little while for the boss to warm up to a young employee.[ESPN]
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