How Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin has been shaped by his NFL journey

TAMPA — Chase McLaughlin didn’t even know how long the kick was. The journeyman place-kicker opened his first season with the Bucs by nailing a 57-yard field goal to clinch a 20-17 win over the Vikings.

For Tampa Bay, which has not had a reliable long-distance kicker in a while, it was a turning point.

For McLaughlin, it was just another job done.

“I don’t really look at distances,” McLaughlin said after a recent practice. “You kind of feel it, obviously, because you can tell the difference, but most of the time I go out there I don’t know the distance. I’m just really focused on making the kick, picking the spots you want to have between the uprights and kicking it there.”

McLaughlin has made it look just that simple this season.

Sunday, he connected on field-goal attempts of 55 and 38 yards, and drilled all three extra-point tries in a 29-25 win over the Falcons. It was his fifth field goal of at least 50 yards in six attempts this season, a remarkable 83.3%. Overall, he is 21-for-23 (91.3%) on field-goal attempts. He is a perfect 25-for-25 on PATs.

The numbers are especially reassuring for the Bucs.

Ryan Succop, who won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and is the franchise’s most accurate kicker with an 84.8% field-goal percentage, could not consistently hit the long kicks. That is what led the team to release him in the spring.

McLaughlin’s leg gives head coach Todd Bowles another facet to his offense.

“I don’t know if it changes the way it approaches us scoring, because we still like to be aggressive and get seven,” Bowles said. “But it’s nice to know you have three and a guy that can get three when you cross midfield that can kick the 50-something yarders and kick the rest of them if you need it.”

McLaughlin, who played soccer while growing up in Texas, has been a valuable asset for Tampa Bay. It’s a mystery why he was even available.

He was 30-for-36 on field-goal attempts with the Colts last season, but Indianapolis let him walk. Instead, the team signed former Rams kicker Matt Gay to a four-year, $22.5 million contract to replace him.

While the 27-year-old McLaughlin admits it was a surprise at the time, he now knows it shouldn’t have been. This has been his journey so far.

He and his wife, Jess, have covered a lot of miles during his five years in the NFL. Together, they have turned to their faith to handle the many curves, turnarounds and reroutes.

Since leaving Illinois, where he was a walk-on before earning a scholarship, McLaughlin has made 11 NFL stops with nine teams over five seasons. He began as an undrafted free agent with the Bills, then bounced to the Vikings (twice), Rams, 49ers, Colts (twice), Jaguars, Jets, Browns and now Bucs.

The constant upheaval, in part, has taught McLaughlin to let go of what he cannot control. It’s taught him to not sweat the distances.

“I’ve been through so many teams now that — I don’t know if it’s the right word — but I am not afraid to be cut,” McLaughlin said. “Like, it’s just it’s a part of the job. It’s something that I’ve been through. So, I don’t put any more pressure on myself no matter the distance. I just go out there and do the best that I can.”

Despite her husband’s history, Jess has unpacked their family — two small children with a third on the way — and made Tampa Bay their home for now. McLaughlin said the Bucs have been the most family-like organization he has played for and the closest stop on his winding NFL journey that has felt like home.

“The people are really friendly and the weather is the closest to Houston, where I am from, so that’s an added bonus,” he said. “We’ve really liked it here.”

While he appears a good fit for the Bucs and his family seems happy, McLaughlin won’t measure his future chances here, either.

It’s just not how the job works.

“I have slipped into that a couple of times before,” McLaughlin said. “It’s something that you never know what’s going to happen next year. Even though in this profession, you are seeing more multi-year deals, nothing’s ever promised So I am just looking at it a game at a time.”

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