Matthew McDairmid

Matthew McDairmid

No. 7 – San Jose Sabercats
Position:	Kicker
Personal information
Born:	(2014-09-04)September 4, 2014 (aged 48) Inverness, Scotland
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:	George Heriot's School
College:	Arkansas-Pine Bluff
ISFL Draft:	2037 (S22) / Round: 5 / Pick: 53
DSFL Draft:	2036 (S21) / Round: 10 / Pick: 77
Career history
Kansas City Coyotes (2036 (S21)) San Jose Sabercats (2037 (S22)- Present)
Roster status:	Active

Matthew McDairmid (born September 4, 2014) is an American football kicker for the San Jose Sabercats of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL). Prior to his rookie season in the NSFL, McDairmid played for the Kansas City Coyotes of the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL).

Early years

Matthew McDairmid was born in the Scottish city of Inverness in 1998. While growing up in the Highlands, Matthew became keenly interested in the sport of Rugby, and would begin playing officially at the young age of 10 with his local team. Over his years in the north of Scotland, he became accustomed to the fly-half role, which gave birth to his dramatically strong kicking game. Upon reaching high school age, Matthew's parents transferred him to George Heriot's School in Edinburgh - which became the work base for both parents at this time. Once again, Matthew excelled at the sport he had grow up with, and continued to develop his mid-game intelligence and kicking leg. While Matthew had hoped to play at Scottish Championship level in his rugby career, his life was pushed in a different direction when his parents moved him away once again - this time, to Arkansas. It was here that Matthew was introduced to the game of American Football for the first time.

College career

Having spent most of his high school career in Scotland preparing for a rugby team to pick him up, Matthew had fallen behind in his academics. Because of this - upon reaching America - he would have difficulty getting into high level colleges. He spent a long time assessing his capabilities at multiple institutions - however the opportunity for him to go to these prestigious schools was out of his limits. Eventually, he stumbled upon the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he eventually attended and walked on to their DI FCS football team. While cutting an imposing figure as a large Scottish import, the biggest thing that stood out about his game - as was similar in Scotland when playing Rugby - was his very strong leg. Seeing the potential he had, the coaches named Matthew the starting punter as a true freshman - however, due to his struggles with accuracy from a held position at first, he would sit behind more experienced kickers for his first 2 years. During his time at UAPB, Matthew continued to impress all those who would watch with his amazing kicking abilities; while, at the same time, becoming much more accurate from extra point and field goal sets. These vast improvements over his 4 years at UAPB saw him claim all-conference honours in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

College career statistics

TBC

Professional career

DSFL career

Upon finishing his college career - thanks to the pushes from his coaches - Matthew decided to attempt to become a pro American Football player, and declared for the DSFL Season 21 draft. In the 10th round of that draft, at pick number 77, he was selected by the Kansas City Coyotes; Matthew would become the second kicker on their roster for that season, behind Lefty Louis. With Louis, McDairmid would create one of the most troublesome tandems that the league could possibly come up with, especially towards the beginning of the season. Through the first 10 weeks, Louis would take every possible kicking opportunity possible and - with time being given to him to work hard on his punting game specifically - McDairmid continued to impress with his ability to flip the field whenever possible. However as the season wore on, Lefty Louis began to struggle completing his duty as the sole kicker, missing 2 extra points and 4 field goals in the last 4 games of the season. This would prove problematic for the Coyotes when - after losing 7 points due to the mistakes of Lefty - the team would miss out on home field advantage by losing in the final week to the Minnesota Grey Ducks 23-20.

After this horrible performance, the coaches decided to take action in their special teams department. And with this change in tactics in the special teams unit, McDairmid would take his spot as the main kicker and punter for the team. In the NSFC Championship game against the Portland Pythons, McDairmid set out to prove the team made the right decision in giving him both starting roles. And he put on a fantastic show, going 4 for 4 on field goals and 1 for 1 on extra points; the most exciting point in this game, however, came when McDairmid launched a 72 yard punt into the opposing team's half. This punt would go down as the longest punt to ever occur in the DSFL Playoffs, and would place McDairmid's name on the map alongside other greats who did some of their best work on the DSFL stage. After beating the Pythons, the Coyotes would travel to Myrtle Beach for their Ultimini match against the Buccaneers. McDairmid was less impressive from the field - going 1 for 1 in extra points and 1 for 2 in field goals - in what would be a 27-10 losing effort against Myrtle Beach. However, McDairmid would again show great prowess in the punt game, booting a long punt of 62 yards and averaging 7 yards more than his counterpart. In the end, there were many positives from McDairmid's rookie campaign, but the lack of an Ultimini left him unsatisfied as he ventured towards the NSFL Draft.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	5.98 s	5.55 s	8.38 s	18.4 in (0.47 m)	4 ft 9.8 in (1.47 m)	3 reps	23

Professional career statistics

Regular Season

Career statistics			Extra Points			Field Goals				Punts
Season	Team	Games	Made	Attempted	PCT	Made	Attempted	PCT	Long	Punts	Yards	Inside 20	Long
2036 (S21)	KCC	14	3	4	75	1	1	100	21	78	3338	8	64
2037 (S22)	SJS	13	34	35	97.1	14	14	100	56	72	3362	14	75
Total		27	37	39	94.9	15	15	100	56	150	6700	22	75

Playoffs

Career statistics			Extra Points			Field Goals				Punts
Season	Team	Games	Made	Attempted	PCT	Made	Attempted	PCT	Long	Punts	Yards	Inside 20	Long
2036 (S21)	KCC	2	5	5	100	2	3	66.6	46	13	675	2	72
Total		2	5	5	100	2	3	66.6	46	13	675	2	72

Achievements and records

Awards

• DSFL Pro Bowl: 2036 (S21)

DSFL Records

• 2036; Broke DSFL record for longest punt in a playoff game (72 yards)
• 2nd highest Average Punt yardage in DSFL playoffs
• 9th highest Total Punt yardage in DSFL playoffs