Cowboys 'Scars': Brett Maher Opens Up on Kicker Struggles

Former Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher speaks on how his struggles last postseason are helping him now compete for the Denver Broncos' starting job

Former Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher unfortunately ended his time in the Lone Star State on a very sour note.

Maher, 33, had an excellent regular season in 2022, making 29 of 32 field goal attempts and 50 of 53 extra points. However, he had a brutal showing in the postseason, missing four of his five extra point attempts in the Cowboys' Wild Card Round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He then missed his only PAT the following week against the San Francisco 49ers, although he did make both of his field goal attempts.

Maher's struggles in the postseason were well documented, and surely played a role in him not returning to Dallas this season. It took a while, but he got back on his feet by signing with the Denver Broncs in late July. Now competing for the starting job in the Mile High City, Maher is using his previous shortcomings as motivation to better himself.

"That was a tough lesson to learn, especially in the moment, I'm sure as you guys all saw," Maher said, via the Broncos' site. … I feel like I've taken it as a way to learn and become more resilient and get a few more of those scars that can kind of help propel you forward." 

"That drove a lot of my offseason prep work, and I'm happy to be here with the opportunity and [to] learn from it and move forward and become better from all sorts of situations — positive and negative and certainly that one."

Maher has spent time with the Cowboys on three separate occasions, although the first was a very brief two-week period in the 2013 season. He returned in 2018 after several stops in both the NFL and CFL, and made 49 of 66 field goals and 68 of 69 PATs over the next two seasons. He then returned again last season after spending 2020 on multiple teams' practice squads and the 2021 season with the New Orleans Saints.

Bad day for the Cowboys kickers. Fans are booing pic.twitter.com/ncACHwfDQk

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 5, 2023

The Cowboys have moved on, with Brandon Aubrey and Tristan Vizcaino in Oxnard competing for the job. There is no proof yet that they are better than Maher, who is not a perfect kicker by any means. His flaws were unfortunately on full display in the postseason. If he can channel his performance from the regular season, though, then another starting job could be in his near future - maybe helped by Cowboys "scars.''

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You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News

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