Cairo Fernandes Santos (born November 12, 1991) is a Brazilian born American footballplacekicker who currently plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Santos was unfamiliar with the American brand of football until he moved to St. Augustine, Florida, as a foreign exchange student. Originally Santos planned to stay at St. Joseph's 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 before moving onto Tulane University in 2010.[1]
Santos played in all 12 games his freshman year and was named to the Conference 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.[2]
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 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.[3] At the end of the season, Santos was named consensus All-American[4] and received the Lou Groza Award for the nation's outstanding placekicker.[5]
Professional career[]
Kansas City Chiefs[]
Santos was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs on May 19, 2014.[6]
