The Kicking Aguayos
November 7th, 2018
Looking back.
You want to know how bad the Bucs defense is? A story about failed kicker Roberto Aguayo is welcome reading rather than burning your eyes with what is shaping up as the worst defense in NFL history.
Yes, Roberto Aguayo was a mistake. A big one as it turned out because the two picks burned to trade up to get him may have been used on defense.
However, Aguayo, once he got past an ugly start to his rookie season, wasn’t that much worse than a guy who also struggled kicking in his rookie season. This same guy likely will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In a lllooonnnggg but interesting story about the kicking Aguayo Bros., Roberto and Ricky (the latter who kicks for Florida State), Devin Gordon of VictoryJournal.com typed that Roberto Aguayo’s rookie numbers weren’t that much different than Adam Vinatieri’s.
During his one season with the Bucs, Roberto made 71 percent of his field goal attempts, which isn’t good enough to hang on to your job as a NFL placekicker, but it’s also not anywhere near the total unraveling that people have come to think happened. Vinatieri, who kicked two Super Bowl–clinching field goals, made 76 percent of his tries as a rookie. One more make for Roberto and one more miss for Vinatieri, and they would’ve had the same season. That’s the gap between the two of them as rookies, the difference between being the greatest clutch kicker of all time and being among the biggest draft busts of all time: two kicks.
Vinatieri, though, was not a second-round pick. The Patriots didn’t trade up to select him. In fact, they didn’t select him at all. Vinatieri went undrafted. He didn’t get a $1 million signing bonus. He got plucked off the street. No one expected anything from him. When you’re a kicker taken in the second round, Roberto quickly realized, when you’re the most accurate kicker in college history, every miss shocks people. Fans got on him right from the start, when he’d miss during drills. Not scrimmages. Drills.
This story is actually pretty cool with a lot of background in it. One excerpt Joe found neat was that Ricky Aguayo, during Roberto’s rookie season with the Bucs, kicked at the Den of Depression as South Florida hosted Florida State, and Ricky Aguayo was roundly booed by the fans; many from both schools were also Bucs fans.
Another cool thing Joe learned is the admissions office at Florida State is located at Doak Campbell Stadium.
November 7th, 2018 at 11:06 am
thats the biggest difference….adam was not a 2nd round pick……if aguayo was a UDFA he might still be on the team…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!
November 7th, 2018 at 11:19 am
Several school offices are located attached to the stadium at FSU. My senior year I could go on break (while working for the school) and sit in the stands of an empty Doak to eat my lunch. It is a smart design for a dual use facility.
November 7th, 2018 at 11:29 am
Roberto Aguayo literally had a perfect training camp this year…and the team he was on still cut him over a guy who was the incumbent kicker and not perfect in his kicks.
Think about that.
The kid has improved his skills, yet no one is giving him a shot. I’m not suggesting we bring him back, I’m just suggesting that if the Bucs had placed him on the practice squad instead of getting rid of him, perhaps he would have turned a corner in his development.
November 7th, 2018 at 11:30 am
These are things that make you say, “Hmmm.”
Next, how about an article on the Flying Gramatica Brothers…
November 7th, 2018 at 11:34 am
From the moment he was picked, it seems Roberto was doomed. Licht did him no favors by trading up for him.
On another note, who would have guessed on that glorious night in January of ’03 that in freaking 2018 we would still be awaiting our next playoff win?
November 7th, 2018 at 11:38 am
So far as the round he was picked in? I don’t really care. Good players come from every round, or don’t get drafted at all. If Roberto Aguayo had turned out to be the best kicker ever, fans would have loved the pick. It was a gamble and it failed. The draft is always a gamble.
Sure, those picks could have been used on other players, but let’s be honest here: people say that EVERY year. No one is ever entirely happy.
Take this year, for example. So many complain that we took Vita Vea. They’ve written him off as a bust, even though he has only played a couple games.
In comparison, Warren Sapp had a horrible first year, recording only 3 sacks and played so badly the first half of that season that they yanked him as the starter for games 6-14. The reason I bring that up is not because I think the two are anything alike, I bring it up because even the mighty Warren Sapp needed time to settle into his role.
The same can be said of John Lynch, Rhonde Barber, Brain Kelly, Dereck Brooks, etc.
We’re playing a lot of rookies, several in starting roles. We’re starting second year players too.
People just need to be more patient. Just like they should have been with Roberto Aguayo. Yes, he needed to be waived, but he could have been added to the practice squad to see if he overcame his issues.
And
November 7th, 2018 at 11:55 am
Buc Bonzai said: I bring it up because even the mighty Warren Sapp needed time to settle into his role.
The same can be said of John Lynch, Rhonde Barber, Brain Kelly, Dereck
——————
Sometimes things take take. Lynch didn’t start until Dungy, Barber played in one game his rookie season, Kelly was the goat of the 99 NFC Championship game, hell, these guys put in all of these seasons and Bonzai still spells Ronde as RHONDE and thinks Brooks name is DERECK. Nobody is perfect. Hopefully in a few more years Bonzai will get those names correct. Then he can start working on Chris SIMS, Charles SIMMS, MARK Alstott, and any of the other names that have been butchered over and over throughout the years.
November 7th, 2018 at 12:00 pm
Hey BB, once again, I agree with you 100%. I’m obviously a fan of the underdog as a Bucs fan since the 70’s, or why else would I continue to be a Bucs fan?
With that said, the Bucs (Licht) should have, and I would still put Roberto on the practice squad giving the kid a second chance. Few stories are sweeter than an underdog overcoming all odds and winning. After all, there’s a reason he was such a successful college kicker, he knows how to kick, and it’s not like our current kicker is setting any records either.
November 7th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
@view from 132 – I used to do the same thing. As I got older, I switched to eating at the U Club. The view from there is simply amazing.
November 7th, 2018 at 2:10 pm
aguayo spotted at publix in aisle 12 buying nothing…he was just a lookout for his boy who came in to rack up on some steaks
November 7th, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Brandon Says:
Buc Bonzai said: The same can be said of John Lynch, Rhonde Barber, Brain Kelly, Dereck Brooks, etc.
Bonzai still spells Ronde as RHONDE and thinks Brooks name is DERECK. Nobody is perfect. Hopefully in a few more years Bonzai will get those names correct. Then he can start working on Chris SIMS, Charles SIMMS, MARK Alstott, and any of the other names that have been butchered over and over throughout the years.
—
… I love Mark Alstott.
November 7th, 2018 at 3:08 pm
I think the only people dumber than our gm could be ourfans. Imagine thinking its ok to trade into the 2nd round for a kicker with an average leg and paying him 2nd round money and wanting to stash him on the practice squad and give him time to develop . How dumb. Kickers are cheap and don’t require a pick.
November 7th, 2018 at 6:01 pm
Roberto had a better rookie year than Sebastian Janikowski – and he didn’t miss any kicks that mattered. But the internet lynch mob needs someone to lynch, and he was chosen. It really made zero sense to cut him in preseason after game 1 last year, and this year from everything I read in camp for the Chargers he was the best kicker there and only got cut at then end – and the Chargers since then have cut the kicker they kept after he stank up the place.
Anywho from the above it’s obvious that Roberto curses teams that do him wrong, and just like we had to go 15 years with the Doug Williams curse, now it’s another 15 years of the Roberto curse.
November 8th, 2018 at 7:05 am
Look at Brandon trying to earn funny points. Okay, you got me. For once I misspelled Ronde’s name. Feel free to use the search function to see how often I make that mistake.
But since I correct my family on grammar and spelling all the time, I’ll give you this one. Call it Karma.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:19 am
@rod… lol, 3 teams cut him after we did and 32 teams don’t want him now.