UCLA Football: Former Bruins Kicker Makes NFL History

He spent all four seasons of college football at UCLA.

Eva Geitheim | 23 Hours Ago

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Former UCLA football kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked four field goals for the Houston Texans in their win on Sunday Night Football over the Chicago Bears. Fairbairn did not make easy chip-shot field goals either but rather kicked three field goals of 50 yards or longer and one field goal of 47 yards. He kicked a long of 59 yards, helping propel the Texans to a 19-13 victory.

This was second straight week Fairbairn kicked an astounding three field goals of 50 yards or longer in one game. He did so in the Texans' Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts as well, making him the first kicker in NFL history to kick six field goals of 50 yards or more in any two game span.

Texans K Ka'imi Fairbairn put himself into the @NFL history books on Sunday, becoming the first player in league history with SIX 50-plus-yard field goals in a two-week span 🤯

Read more on our Bruins in the NFL from week two.

🏈🗒️: https://t.co/cKDs1Mg2cn pic.twitter.com/oirJJOTIZe
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) September 17, 2024

Fairbairn has never kicked or attempted more than six 50-yard field goals in a single season, let alone through just the first two games of the season. Fairbairn is currently seven-of-seven in on-field goals and three-for-three on extra points this season and is on his way to a career year.

Fairbairn is in his ninth season as the Texans' kicker and has become very consistent over the last three seasons. Over the last two seasons, Fairbairn has missed no more than field goals in a season and is 11-12 on field goal attempts of 50 yards or more combined over 2022 and 2023. He has also missed just one extra point attempt over the last two seasons.

In 2022, Fairbairn kicked 29 of his 31 field goal attempts and all 24 of his extra point attempts. In 2023, he made 27 of his 28 field goal attempts, and 21 of his 22 extra point attempts.

Prior to entering the NFL, Fairbairn kicked for UCLA from 2012-15. Throughout his time as a Bruins, Fairbairn hit 210 of his 215 (97.7 percent) of his extra point attempts, and 68 of 89 (76.4 percent) on his field goal attempts. Ironically, Fairbairn struggled with long distance field goals during his college career at UCLA, and did not make a field goal of at least 50 years until his senior season.

During his final season of college in 2015, Fairbairn made 20 of his 24 field goal attempts and all 47 of his extra point attempts. He finished the season as a consensus All-American, and the winner of the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in college football.