Forbath Signs with Rams

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Packing his bags after last Tuesday’s news that he was headed to the West Coast, veteran NFL kicker Kai Forbath must have felt tempted to have a coming home party with friends and family.   

The last time he suited up for an LA-based team was 10 years ago in college at UCLA, but the Rams have signed the 33-year-old Forbath off of Chicago’s practice squad and he will challenge struggling rookie  Samuel Sloman for the starting job.

     “We wanted to bring in a guy that’s kicked in this league with success and wanted more consistency,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of Forbath, who didn’t join the team until Sunday due to COVID-19 protocols and didn’t play in Monday night’s victory over the Bears. “This doesn’t mean it’s over for Sam. We want to continue to evaluate him, but getting Kai in here is something we wanted to explore as well.”

The Rams are the 10th NFL team Forbath has been with, either on the roster or practice squad, since entering the league in 2012. McVay saw Forbath kick during his coaching stint in Washington and admitted that was a factor in the Rams signing him, along with his experience.

As a junior at UCLA in 2009 Forbath won the Lou Groza Award as the NCAA’s top kicker. He signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2011 but never practiced with the team before being cut. Tampa Bay claimed him off waivers in April 2012 and despite a successful preseason he was signed by Washington in October of that season and went on to set the NFL record for most consecutive field goals made to start a career with 17. His field goal percentage of 94.4 led the NFL.

In the last three seasons he has been with Minnesota, Jacksonville,  New England, Dallas, Carolina, Chicago and now Los Angeles, converting 15 of 16 field goals during that stretch. He is ninth among active players in field goal percentage, having made 86.8 percent of his tries (131 of 151) and has booted seven game-winners, most recently a 26-yarder with the Vikings in 2017.

Born in Santa Monica, Forbath grew up in the Palisades Highlands and starred for Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks.