Roberto Aguayo Credits Bears Staffer With Saving Him

Roberto Aguayo is one of the most fascinating stories to hit the NFL in a long time. Here's a young man who became the greatest kicker in college football history. With Florida State, he connected on 69 of his 78 field goal attempts. This made him the most accurate kicker that level had ever seen. As a freshman, he helped the program win a national championship.

It was a good time to be him. However, good things rarely last. The pressure truly began in 2016. Unlike most kickers who are drafted on Day 3 or even go undrafted, Aguayo saw intense pressure put on him from the start when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in the 2nd round. That was something he never saw coming, and the expectations that came with it began to erode his confidence and swagger.

Amidst a disastrous rookie season, he made just 22 of 31 field goals with an abysmal 4-of-11 rate from beyond 40 yards. The magic he had was gone. As Mirin Fader of the Bleacher Report indicated, he soon spiraled into a deep depression. He'd often cry behind closed doors and get drunk to numb the pain. Nothing made sense anymore. He wasn't sure if life was worth living.

Brief stint with Chicago Bears saved Roberto Aguayo

After being cut by Tampa Bay early in 2017, the Chicago Bears gave him a tryout on their team. They were desperate for kicking help. It was hoped that maybe a fresh start could help snap him out of his funk. While that didn't pan out, the kicker later said his three-week stint with the team proved to be a turning point in his life.

One day, a Bears staffer asked Aguayo if he had any hobbies outside of football. He mentioned golf. She recommended he read and watch Seven Days in Utopia, a story about a young golfer who has a dreadful debut on the pro circuit. He drives as far as he can, encountering a rancher. Aguayo sums up the rancher's advice: "What's it going to say on your gravestone? Does being a golfer really matter, or is being true to who you are, what you believe, matter?"

That's when Aguayo realized that he has always defined his self-worth through making kicks. Not his work ethic or his character. He continued to read books about the mental side of the game, all the while battling Connor Barth for the Bears job. Aguayo was released after about three weeks. "It was a blessing," Courtney says. "He wasn't really ready to be on a team yet."

This is another sign of how well GM Ryan Pace and the team brass have built their new culture at Halas Hall. More than ever the organization has a keen grasp of sports psychology. They know how to help young men both on and off the field. If Aguayo could take in that much from less than a month on the team, one can imagine how much more established players are benefitting.