Cairo Santos

BIOGRAPHY

Cairo Fernandes Santos was born on 12 November 1991, in Limeira, Sao Paolo, Brazil. He is a placekicker in the NFL.

In his early years, Santos developed kicking skills in soccer, translated well to field goal kicking in American football. He saw that he had an opportunity to earn a college scholarship, so he remained in Florida, sharpening his kicking skills through high school. Santos committed to Tulane on 22 January 2010. He played in all 12 games his freshman year and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team and was honorable mention All C-USA after leading the Green Wave in points scored while making 13 of his 16 field goal attempts, 32 of his 33 PATs, and handling kick off duties. In his sophomore season, Santos played in all 13 games and finished second on the team in scoring making 11/18 field goals and 33/34 PATs while handling kickoffs and punting duties averaging 41 yards a punt. Santos had an amazing 2012 season, where he went 26 of 27 on PATs in which his only miss was blocked, and a perfect 21 of 21 on field goals, including a school-record 57-yard field goal. He became the second kicker to make at least 20 field goals in a season without a miss, in which12 of those field goals were from 40-plus yards and 2 from 50-plus and 31 of his 55 kickoffs went for touchbacks. At the end of the season, Santos was named consensus All-American and received the Lou Groza Award for the nation's most outstanding placekicker. Santos went on to compete in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where he connected on a 39-yard field goal and recorded one tackle on a kickoff return.

Santos was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs on 19 May 2014 and was named the Chiefs kicker on 30 August 2014, beating veteran Ryan Succop for the position. On 7 September 2014, he became the first Brazilian born player ever to play in an NFL regular season game. Santos was the team season scoring leader with 113 points, with the most points by a rookie player in Chiefs history. He also made most field goals with 25 by a rookie kicker in Chiefs history tying with Ryan Succop. On October 4, 2015, Santos scored 7 field goals, where 2 were over 50 yards, and in week 10, Santos made 5 field goals out of 6 attempts against the Denver Broncos, the second game in the season with at least five field goals made tying the franchise record with Jan Stenerud. In Week 15, Santos kicked a 53-yard field goal against the Baltimore Ravens. This was the fourth field goal with at least 50 yards in the season tying the franchise record, with Nick Lowery. Santos was the team season scoring leader and sixth in NFL season, tying for fifth with most field goals made in NFL season. Cairo Santos became the first Brazilian player to play in a playoff game. He made all 3 field goal and three extra point attempts against the Houston Texans in the AFC Wild Card Game. He kicked two 49-yard field goals, the longest field goals in the Chiefs postseason history.

In Week 2 of the 2016 season, Santos kicked a 54-yard field goal, which was the longest field goal of his professional career against the Houston Texans. In November, Santos was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for the first time in his career after converting 11 of 11 field goals and all five extra points. Santos was the team season scoring leader and sixth in NFL season. He also was the seventh kicker with most field goals made in NFL season. On September 30, 2017, Santos was waived by the Chiefs and was later signed by the Chicago Bears on 20 November 2017, and was waived on December 4. On 15 March 2018, Santos signed a one-year contract with the New York Jets and was released on 22 August 2018. On 2 October 2018, Santos signed with the Los Angeles Rams to serve as their starting kicker while Greg Zuerlein recovers from a groin injury. He was released on 16 October 2018 after two games after Zuerlein was deemed healthy. On 12 November 2018, Santos was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where in week 15 he scored his 100th field goal of his career against the Baltimore Ravens. On March 13, 2019, Santos re-signed with the Buccaneers.

Santos signed with the Chicago Bears on 25 August 2020. On 11 March 2021, Santos signed a three-year contract extension with the Bears worth $9 million.