How Bears’ kicker Cairo Santos saved, restarted promising occupation

LAKE FOREST – Cairo Santos’ soccer job was on the brink.

“How numerous far more options am I heading to preserve having? I have to make this a person,” he informed himself.

It was 7 days 3 in Atlanta previous year. A promising opening generate by the Bears stalled at the Falcons’ 28-property-line and Santos was known as on to make a 46-garden area intention. He missed it still left.

It was ideal there, on that sideline, in the center of the video game, that Santos turned his vocation all around.

“There was a minor flashback that popped in my head of the previous groups I was on attempting to appear back from that (groin) damage and I generally felt that stress. I place that stress on myself that this has to be the chance that I bounce back again,” Santos said Friday at Halas Hall. “I considered about this with the Bucs, with the Titans, so there we go once more, I missed a kick in Atlanta.”

Just after a promising 3-12 months stint in Kansas Town to commence his job, Santos experienced a groin harm in 2017 that derailed his career. Each of his comeback attempts finished improperly, both because of to injuries or overall performance. In 2019, he infamously missed 4 area objectives in opposition to the Costs and was introduced by the Titans the up coming working day.

Santos’ latest comeback work – his 2nd with the Bears — appeared like it may possibly end in very similar vogue. He had missed a area objective versus the Giants the week right before and was previously -for-1 towards the Falcons. He was only brought to Chicago in education camp for the reason that Eddy Pineiro experienced experienced an injuries and, at that issue, turning again to Pineiro appeared reasonable. But then anything altered.

“I just kind of acknowledged it as, if it truly is meant to be, I’m gonna hold grinding so if I get a further chance here in this sport, I am gonna attack that kick to make it,” Santos said. “If I’m completed, I’ve gotta go on, simply because I continue to keep trying (to be) and not remaining the person I was in Kansas Metropolis. I felt like I started out playing a little looser and put every little thing in God’s arms and went just one kick at a time and right here we are.”

Of course, below we are. Santos hasn’t missed a discipline aim due to the fact. His only skip the relaxation of the 2020 year was a blocked added position on a major safety breakdown that wasn’t his fault. His streak of 27 straight produced field ambitions is a Bears record. And he intends on incorporating to it.

In the offseason, the Bears even rewarded Santos with a 3-calendar year, $9 million contract extension.

“It was a lifetime-transforming calendar year with all the things that occurred,” Santos claimed Friday.

That lifetime-transforming 12 months integrated the delivery of his 1st child, a baby boy, on Nov. 3 of previous calendar year, correct as the streak was catching on.

“I believe it was a minimal little bit of a blessing at that time for him to arrive all through a challenging time, throughout COVID, through that 12 months when the league was shut down, not having workout routines. I was already in that manner of maybe I’m transitioning to currently being a dad and a next profession,” Santos reported. “Then I bought a shot here and it was a further prospect to kind of make it home.”

The turnaround is exceptional. And it all begun with Santos’ following kick towards the Falcons, a 35-garden industry target on the Bears’ upcoming possession. Most Bears followers don’t forget that game for what took place at the quarterback situation – the benching of Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles’ a few fourth quarter touchdowns that erased a 16-point deficit. But as the unlikely comeback played out, Santos quietly designed all of his additional details and began to get into a groove that would past the relaxation of the period.

“I hit (those people) down the center best. That is wherever the streak began going. It was just like, I want an prospect and if it’s to end ideal now, I accept it and I’ll be happy transferring ahead, transferring from soccer,” Santos claimed. “Or if it is to restart a job, which is exactly what I want.”

Think about the career restarted. And for Santos, he’ll generally search back on that Sunday in Atlanta as the turning issue.

“It’s just humbling to go by means of that once more in the middle of a activity and to just settle for (that) it’s outside of my hands,” Santos reported. “Let me just go with it, just one kick at a time.”