For the first time since 2006, there's a very good chance that the Green Bay Packers are going to have someone besides Mason Crosby kicking for them.
Crosby's contract expired at the end of the season and not only does he remained unsigned, but the Packers took another big step toward moving on 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.
The selection of Anders marks the first time since 2007 that the Packers have used a draft pick on a kicker. The last time it happened came 16 years ago when they used the 193rd overall pick on Crosby. Since then, Crosby has been on the field for every game that the Packers have played.
The addition of Anders means that the Packers now have two kickers on the roster with the newly drafted rookie joining Parker White, who signed a futures contract with the team in January.
If White and Anders end up competing for the job in training camp, there's no guarantee that Carlson will walk away as the winner. The former Auburn kicker struggled in 2022 and he doesn't have a booming leg. During his final college season, Carlson hit just 70.6% of his field goals (12 of 17), including an ugly 50% from beyond 40 yards. Over the past two seasons, Carlson's longest kick was from 49 yards and he went 0-for-4 on kicks from beyond 50.
If Carlson does win the job though, that will set the stage for an NFL rarity: A brother vs. brother kicking battle. The Raiders are scheduled to play Green Bay this year, which means the Carlson brothers could be kicking against each other come this fall.
The Carlsons could become just the sixth set of brothers to both kick in the NFL at the same time. The first time it happened came with Pete Gogolak (1964-74) and his brother Charlie (1966-72).
During the 1970s, Nick Mike-Mayer (1973-83) and his brother Steve (1975-80) both spent time kicking in the NFL. The most successful brotherly duo was probably the Bahrs with both Chris (1976-89) and Matt (1979-95) kicking in the NFL for more than a decade.
The Zendejas family produced THREE brothers who kicked in the NFL, although all three of them had relatively short careers. Joaquin played two games in 1983 while his brothers Max (1986-88) and Luis (1987-89) both played three seasons with two of those overlapping. They also had a cousin in Tony Zendejas, who kicked from 1985 to 1995.
The most recent brothers to kick in the NFL at the same time would be the Gramaticas. Martin spent 10 seasons in the NFL (1999-2008) while his brother Bill was in the league for four years (2001-04).
As for Crosby, if he's not on the field for the opener, it will mark 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 Dec. 31, 2006.
