Tampa Bay’s Irish kicker Patrick Murray facing battle to stay in NFL

Patrick Murray's NFL career is in jeopardy as he battles to remain the kicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The New Jersey-born son of former Monaghan footballer Aidan, Murray won the job at the start of last year and delivered a fine return of 20 from 24 field goal attempts, including 13 in a row to end the season, the longest active streak among NFL kickers. But preseason has not been kind to the 24-year-old, who missed three kicks in the opening two games, including an extra point attempt in a victory over Cincinnati. The Bucs responded by signing Connor Barth, the player Murray beat out for the job last season, who had been cut by the Denver Broncos. Both players went on to miss a field goal attempt in Saturday's defeat by Cleveland, leading Bucs management to trade for a third kicker, Kyle Brindza, earlier today. Teams typically carry just one kicker on their final 53-man squad, but with NFL rules stating rosters must be cut from 90 to 75 by tomorrow, and with the Bucs down to 80 after culling 10 players yesterday, at least one of the three kickers is unlikely to be around for the team's final preseason outing on Thursday.