Two players who could decide Super Bowl 2026: Meet the kickers for the Patriots and Seahawks

SAN FRANCISCO — If you plan on watching the Super Bowl, there are two names you might want to learn right now — Jason Myers and Andy Borregales — because one of those two guys could end up deciding the game. Those are the two kickers who will be taking the field on Sunday and if recent NFL history is any indication, one of them could have a shot at NFL immortality on Sunday night. 

Three of the past four Super Bowls have been decided by exactly three points and if that’s the case this year, a late field goal could end up deciding the game. The Super Bowl is the ultimate pressure cooker for kickers: Some of them have been able to handle the pressure (Hello, Adam Vinatieri) and others have melted down (The name Scott Norwood might ring a bell). 

Although the pressure of the Super Bowl has been known to melt kickers down, that hasn’t happened in recent years. Dating back to Super Bowl LVII, kickers have combined to make 14 straight field goals in the Super Bowl. So will that streak continue this year? 

The two kickers in Super Bowl LX are total opposites, but they do have one thing in common: They’re both kicking in a Super Bowl for the first time. 

Borregales is a rookie who is about to become the first Venezuelan-born player to take the field in a Super Bowl. And then there’s Myers, who has been in the NFL since 2015, patiently waiting for a chance to play in the NFL’s biggest game. 

For Borregales, the last time he kicked in a “bowl” came in the 2024 Pop Tarts Bowl. It might not be the Super Bowl, but any time you kick in a game that features an edible mascot, there’s certainly some pressure involved. Whether it’s the Super Bowl or the Pop Tarts Bowl or a regular season game, the 23-year-old tries to treat every game the same way. That’s the only way a kicker can stay sane. 

“At the end of the day, I try to think of it like any other game,” Borregales said of playing in the Super Bowl. “Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Just try to be neutral.”

Starting a rookie kicker in the Super Bowl sounds like something that could be a recipe for disaster, but as it turns out, that actually hasn’t been the case over the course of NFL history. When he takes the field on Sunday, Borregales will become the 13th rookie or first-year player to kick in the Super Bowl, and surprisingly, the rookies who came before him have actually thrived. 

Instead of melting under the pressure of the Super Bowl, rookie kickers have had ice in their veins for the big game. The 12 rookies who have kicked in a Super Bowl have combined to hit 18 of 20 field goal attempts (90%), which is drastically better than everyone else. Non-rookies have combined to hit 145 of 195 field goals, which is just 75.5%. 

Over the past 30 years, rookie kickers are a perfect 8 of 8 in the Super Bowl. It defies logic. Although Borregales had a solid rookie year, hitting 27 of 32 field goals, he’s hit just 55.5% of his attempts since Christmas and he’s missed at least one kick (field goal or extra point) in four of his past five games, but no one in New England will remember that if he has a perfect Super Bowl. 

The Super Bowl is being played outdoors for the first time in five years, which is something both kickers will have to deal with. Myers might have the upper-hand though, because he’s spent plenty of time at Levi’s Stadium. That being said, he did struggle during his last trip there with two missed field goals in Week 18 (26, 47). Before those two kicks, Myers had never missed a field goal attempt in the 49ers’ home stadium, so he’s not too worried about kicking there again. 

“It was an off day,” Myers said of Week 18. “We’ve had a bye week and a couple playoff games, worked on some stuff, so yea, it’s been good.”

Myers is 10 of 12 in six career games at Levi’s Stadium. 

As for Borregales, one thing every kicker knows is that you have to get the lay of the land in the stadium where you’re kicking. In the Super Bowl, some kickers like to check out the a stadium a day or two before the game, but Borregales said he does his best work on the day of the game. 

“Planning for me is a game day thing,” Borregales said. “Just because, I could look at the wind today and be like, ‘Oh, it might be like this on Sunday,’ but you never know until you’re actually there. So I try not to really dwell on it. You get an idea of how strong the wind may be, but wind direction, you get it more off of actually just kicking in it, so that’s kind of how I’m planning on it.”

The forecast in Santa Clara for Sunday is calling for almost perfect kicking weather: It’s expected to be just above 65 degrees at kickoff with wind speeds at less than 5 mph. With weather like that, we could see the Super Bowl record for longest field goal get broken. The mark belongs to Harrison Butker, who hit a 57-yarder for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII. Not only does Myers have the range for that, but he once hit a 57-yarder at Levi’s, which is tied for the second-longest field goal ever kicked in the stadium. 

The longest field goal ever at Levi’s actually came from a former Patriots kicker: Joey Slye hit a 63-yarder in 2024. 

Borregales’ longest field goal in 2025 came from 59 yards, so he certainly has the leg for a long distance kick if the Patriots need it. 

Both kickers will be spending the night before the Super Bowl getting themselves prepared for the game. For Borregales, that means a private therapy session with himself where he harnesses all of his positive thoughts. 

“It’s really just looking at my highlights, just seeing, look, ‘you can do that,’ so whatever comes the next day on game day, you know you can do it,” Borregales said. “There’s no reason to think you can’t.”

For Myers, he focusses more on the physical side of things. 

“I eat pasta and then when we get back to the room, stretch a little bit, put the Normatec boots on and just kind of relax,” the Seahawks kicker said of what he does the night before a game. 

The Normatec boots are worn by hundreds of athletes across multiple sports and they’ve grown in popularity with kickers. As you can imagine, kickers are very protective about their feet, which might explain why Borregales wore Uggs to Super Bowl Opening Night while every other teammate work Nikes.

Every kicker fantasizes about hitting a game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl, and come this Sunday, Myers or Borregales could get their shot at NFL immortality.