Broncos kicker Brett Maher looks to put playoff struggles behind him

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos kicker Brett Maher knows the question is coming.

When he met media at Centura Health Training Center following practice this week — his first media session since joining the Broncos — he knew that questions about the aftermath of a playoff game last January in which he missed four extra points while with the Dallas Cowboys.

And most pertinent was this: Was it mental or mechanical?

“I think there was a little bit of both,” Maher said. “But that drove a lot of my offseason prep work, and I’m happy to be here with the opportunity and you know, learn learn from it and move forward and become better from all sorts of situations — positive and negative and certainly that one.”

The recap from a quieter day at #BroncosCamp: pic.twitter.com/Pj7C51LZRG

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) August 3, 2023

It’s a significant part of why he isn’t back with Dallas — and why his phone didn’t ring during free agency in March. That meant when the Broncos cut Brandon McManus, he remained available. But the Broncos chose to sign Elliott Fry at the time. Maher waited while the contract situation resolved itself.

He declined to discuss that aspect of his path to Denver.

“You know, my job is to kick footballs and I’ve got an agent that kind of handles that stuff,” Maher said. “So when he tells me we’re ready to go, then it’s my job to come out and put kicks through the uprights and I’m happy to be able to do that now.”

But the question now becomes: What happens when he misses again? Because no kicker is perfect; inevitably, one will sail wide right or wide left.

For Maher, that is where the lessons learned come into play.

“I think what I’m learning every single year in this league, is there is something that’s going to test you and test your response to how you handle your business, how you handle outside stuff. And that was a tough lesson to learn — especially in the moment, I’m sure, as you guys all saw.

“But it’s also I feel like I’ve taken it as a as a way to learn and become more resilient and get a few more of those scars that can kind of help help propel you forward.”

It also helps that as social media melted down last January, he remained unaware. So, the feedback he received was mostly supportive.

“I can tell you I heard from way more people positively than I did negatively. I think part of that is being off of social media, obviously,” Maher said, smiling. “But the people in my circle were very supportive and unwavering. So very thankful.”

And then — and now — he wants the ball on his foot when it matters most.

“Yeah, I enjoy having one play that kind of decides the fate of 60 minutes of football,” he said. “We fly under the radar a lot until you’re in that that one moment and you’ve got to kind of embrace that and understand what that situation is and be able to control your nerves, be able to control what you can and not let the outside situation dictate it and figure out how you can use that to your advantage.

“Maybe get a little adrenaline, get a little extra juice going that way and kind of get get focused that way.”

If the Broncos get the Maher that dominated in the regular season last year, it will be the Maher who embraces that challenge — and succeeds with it. That’s the Maher who hit 90 percent of his extra points in the last two regular seasons. And the one who slammed 78 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks last year.

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