99% of Pittsburgh Steelers’ fans had never heard of Chris Boswell when he was brought in for a tryout in 2015. Those that had, were either fans of Rice University Football or had an unusual fascination with kickers. He was the fourth kicker brought in that season following Shaun Suisham’s injury, Garrett Hartley’s injury and Josh Scobee’s disastrous tenure. Since that season, Boswell has literally been a steal.
I completely understand that writing an article such as this comes with hesitation. The last thing I want is for this to be published and then for Boswell to have an awful week. The reason I’m confident in it is because Boswell is confident in what he does. He currently ranks sixth all-time in terms of field goal accuracy making 87.6% of his attempts. The only seasons that saw him struggle were 2018 (65%) and 2022 (71.4%) and both of those seasons saw him struggle with injuries.
The Texas native has always been one of the NFL’s better kickers since getting the permanent gig a decade ago, but he was often overshadowed by the guy in his own division. Baltimore’s Justin Tucker has seen a few blips on his radar recently but he is still one of the NFL’s best and will easily walk right into the Hall of Fame when all is said and done. As appreciation grows for kickers, perhaps Boswell will get that call someday too.
While Boswell hasn’t been as celebrated as Tucker, he’s very much appreciated by Steeler Nation. In the season opening win at Atlanta He nailed all six of his kicks for the win. Three of those were from over 50 yards. Boz once accounted for all of his team’s scoring in an AFC Divisional Playoff win in Kansas City too by going six-for-six on his field goal attempts. In his very first season with the Steelers he booted four field goals including the game winner to defeat the Bengals in Cincinnati in the AFC Wild-Card game.
He remains one of the few Steelers on the current roster to have picked up multiple postseason victories.
Place Kicking in football is not easy and it isn’t for the faint of heart. You are remembered far more for your misses than you are your makes and whether that’s fair or not doesn’t matter. That’s just how it is. Look at Scott Norwood in Buffalo or Ray Finkel in Miami. OK, the last guy is fictitious but you get the point.
Kickers in general aren’t the first guys we think about on football teams and that’s for numerous reasons, but I write this about Boswell simply because of how good he’s been and for how long he’s been doing it. He’s deserving of the attention and appreciation.
