The Green Bay Packers believe that they have finally found a kicker that will be as consistent as they expect him to be for the 2024 NFL season, and hopefully for years to come. After choosing not to re-sign Mason Crosby at the conclusion of the 2022 NFL season, Green Bay selected Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to be his replacement.
At the time, the selection of Carlson at all was a head-scratcher. Aside from being the 10th-ranked kicker in the class, which likely would have made him available as an undrafted free agent, he made 71.8% of his field goal attempts while at Auburn.
What was even more infuriating, especially for Packers fans, was that the team did not bring in anyone else to compete with Carlson. They just handed him the starting job.
Former Green Bay Packers Kicker Anders Carlson Never Improved His Consistency
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
In his first and only season in as the Packers kicker, Carlson made 81.8% of his field goal attempts and just 87.2% of his extra point tries. He got off to a strong enough start, making every kick he attempted through Week Five.
But then the wheels started to fall off.
In Green Bay’s last 12 regular season games, Carlson made just 76.9% of his field goals and 82.8% of his extra points. He did not improve in the NFL Playoffs, either. Carlson missed an extra point against the Dallas Cowboys and a field goal against the San Francisco 49ers.
Due to his disappointing rookie season, the Packers signed veteran kicker Greg Joseph to compete with him during OTA’s and training camp. Unfortunately, Jospeh and Carlson were both disappointing.
When the Packers announced their initial 53-man roster, it was revealed that they had cut Carlson and kept Joseph. However, they claimed Brayden Narveson off of waivers from the Tennessee Titans and released Joseph a day later.
New Green Bay Packers Kicker Brayden Narveson Addressed the Media for the First Time
Narveson was waived by the Titans due to the presence of veteran kicker Nick Folk on the roster. However, the undrafted free agent kicker performed well in the preseason, making five of six field goals with his only miss coming from 58 yards away.
He also has not missed an extra point since before his college football career.
On Sunday, he addressed the media for the first time as the Packers’ kicker:
New Packers kicker Brayden Narveson on this opportunity: “It’s a dream.”
Narveson added: “My wife grew up here in (Prescott) Wisconsin. They’re all Packers fans, so it’s really, really surreal … they were super excited.” pic.twitter.com/gfdLVYmrW6
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) September 1, 2024
As Schneidman notes, Narveson’s in-laws are residents of Prescott, Wisconsin, and are huge Packers fans.
Narveson also said, “It’s a dream, it’s a dream. I’m going to take it one day at a time. I’m going to do everything in my power to get one percent better day after day after day. And at the end of the day, I’m going to go out there and try to make kicks.
“And that’s my job. That’s what I get paid to do. So that is what I’m going to do.”
In response to a question about whether or not the job comes with pressure, he said, “Yeah, everything does. And if someone tells you that they’re not nervous, there’s no pressure, they’re lying to you or they don’t care, in my opinion.
“I think there’s always pressure. Pressure is a privilege, in my opinion. Pressure means that you’ve done the right things at the right time to show everybody how hard you’ve worked. That’s how I feel about it.”
Packers fans were more than a little excited to hear their new kicker speak in that manner.
“I wonder if this man knows he’s has an opportunity to change my life,” one fan posted on X.
“Oh this rocks, I hope he’s here forever,” another wrote.
“Pressure is a privilege” love this guy already https://t.co/b1YOBRMs4F
— Ross Wargula (@52_Ross_Wargula) September 1, 2024
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