Cairo Santos

Cairo Fernandes Santos (born 12 November 1991) is a Brazilian professional American football placekicker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL).

Santos committed to Tulane on 22 January 2010.

Santos also received interest from Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, and Miami (OH).

Santos played in all 12 games his freshman year and was named to the Conference USA (C-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.

The 2012 was a breakout season for Santos as he went 26 of 27 on PATs (his only miss was blocked) and a perfect 21 of 21 on field goals, including a school record 57-yard field goal.

He became only the second kicker to make at least 20 in a season without a miss.

12 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.

He played college football at Tulane, and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

Santos went on to compete in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where he connected on a 39-yard field goal.

Santos was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs on 19 May 2014.

He 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 in a 26–10 loss to the Tennessee Titans, kicking his first career field goal.

After missing two field goals in his first two games, he made his next 13 field goal attempts, including a clutch game-winning field goal with 26 seconds left in a Week 7 win over the San Diego Chargers and a 53-yard field goal the following week against the St. Louis Rams.

In the 2014 season, Santos converted all 38 extra point attempts and 25 of 30 field goal attempts.

Santos was the team leader whose 113 points were the most by a rookie player in Chiefs history.

He also made most field goals (25) by a rookie kicker in Chiefs history (tied with Ryan Succop).

In a 21–36 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on 4 October, Santos kicked a team record seven field goals, including two over 50 yards.

His seven field goals tied him with five players for the second most all-time in a single game.

In Week 10, Santos made five field goals of six attempts against the Denver Broncos, the second game in the season with at least five field goals made.

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.

In the 2015 season, Santos converted 39 of 41 extra point attempts and 30 of 37 field goal attempts.

In a 30–0 victory against the Houston Texans in the American Football Conference (AFC) Wild Card Round game, Cairo Santos became the first Brazilian player to play in a National Football League playoffs game.

He made three field goals and three extra point attempts.

He kicked two 49-yard field goals, the longest field goals in the Chiefs postseason history.

In his second postseason game, Santos made two field goals in a 20–27 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round game.

In Week 2, Santos kicked a 54-yard field goal in a 12–19 loss to the Texans, the longest field goal of his professional career.

Santos made two field goals in the 30–27 overtime victory against Broncos including the game-winner, a 34-yard field goal attempt that bounced off the left upright.

In November, Santos was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for the first time after converting 11 of 11 field goals and all five extra points.

In the 2016 season, Santos appeared in all 16 games and converted 36 of 39 extra point attempts and 31 of 35 field goal attempts.

Santos spent parts of his first four seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs, before being released partway in the 2017 season.

Between 2017 and 2019, he had brief stints with the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tennessee Titans.

In 2020, he was reacquired by the Bears and has remained with them since.

He is the first Brazilian born player in NFL history.

Born in Limeira, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, Santos was raised in Brasilia, the capital, where his father worked as a pilot for Varig.

Santos was unfamiliar with American football until he moved to St. Augustine, Florida, as a foreign exchange student at age 15.

Originally, Santos planned to stay at St. Joseph Academy for one year to learn English, but soon found that the kicking skills he had developed playing soccer in Brazil translated well to field goal kicking in American football.

With the opportunity to earn a college scholarship, Santos remained in Florida, sharpening his kicking skills through high school.