College football NIL era has made its way to kickers

As the NIL era rages on unregulated, more and more players are looking to get in on the action.

Now, that ever-growing list includes kickers.

Texas kicker Bert Auburn announced he's entering the transfer portal on Friday with a year of eligibility left.

Thank you Texas. Through all the ups and downs, these have been some of the best years. It’s been an honor to be a longhorn! I will be entering the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining. pic.twitter.com/8gqnwBh3z8
— Bert Auburn (@bert_auburn1) April 17, 2025

While we are firmly "kickers need love too," the idea that a kicker could leave a school like Texas to seek NIL fortune is certainly one that would turn heads.

But don't let his position fool you: experienced kickers would likely have a pretty high market value, despite the fact that it remains the least respected position in all of football. Auburn's been the Longhorns' starting kicker for three years now, and has yet to miss an extra point in his career.

Given the utter dearth of reliable college kickers in the sport (just ask Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham about that), Auburn figures to get a sniff from a good number of programs.

The first two years of Auburn's career in Austin marked him as one of the best kickers in the sport; he made 80.8 percent of his field goals his sophomore year, and 82.9 percent of them his junior year, including a career-best 54 yarder.

Things got a bit messy for him last season, though. While he remained perfect on extra points, Auburn's field goal percentage dropped to just 64 percent, and was just 42 percent from 40 yards or longer on the year. He also found himself benched for the Longhorns' eventual loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, after missing two field goals (that ultimately made the difference in the game) in the SEC title game against Georgia, and going just 1-for-3 on field goal attempts in the quarterfinals against Arizona State.

With Texas finding a replacement it was clear Auburn's days were numbered, but the chance he could rediscover his form makes him a tantalizing option for many teams.

Wherever he lands (the idea of Bert Auburn kicking for Alabama is incredibly funny to me, but I digress), I think we can all agree we're in a brave new world now for NIL and the portal.

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