Rigoberto Sánchez was chosen as the kicker of the week (Marc Lebryk/USA TODAY Sports Via Reuters)
After the complicated victory of the Colts of Indianapolis in front ofs Titans de Tennessee by a score of 20-17 last Sunday, the name of Rigoberto Sanchez He stood out from the rest by being named player of the match.
The Mexican-American made a 51-yard kick when his team needed it most, as the Indianapolis offense had been stopped at the 30-yard line. Given the threat of the Titans’ attack, Sánchez managed to get 54 and 57 yards on his next punts, which that contained the rival offensive.
Thanks to the depth of these kicks, the Tennessee attack was unable to get within field goal range to tie the duel, the Colts maintained the three-point lead and emerged with the victory of the Nissan Stadiumhome of the Titans.
In his total numbers for the game, Rigo Sanchez He averaged 54.2 yards on his five punts which adds to his 70.8 percent average of punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line so far this season.
This average currently positions him as the best special teams kicker in Week 6 of the NFL, a recognition that was highlighted by the official account of the Indianapolis Colts on social network X.
Rigoberto Sánchez on the Colts. (Wikimedia)
Rigo Sanchez He carries the Mexican flag on the back of his helmet and although he was born in the city of Chico, California, he is always proud of his origins. His mother is from the state of Guanajuato; his father, from Michoacán. Both emigrated to the United States in search of better opportunities before the kicker was born, according to information from the agency. EFE.
The Mexican-American began to be interested in American football since he was in high school, from there he trained and specialized as a kicker until he was part of teams in university leagues.
Rigo initially played for Butte College in Oroville, California, located approximately 30 miles southeast of Hamilton City before transferring to the University of Hawaii, where he really excelled.
At the University of Hawaii, the Mexican-American enlisted in the team of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors for two seasons, 2015 and 2016.
During the 2015 season, he punted 74 times for 3,335 net yards for a 45.1 average. He handled kicking duties and converted 23 of 24 extra point attempts and 8 of 11 field goal attempts while in the 2016 season he punted 70 times for 3,122 net yards for a 44.6 average. He converted 49 of 50 extra point attempts and all 13 field goal attempts, numbers that caught the attention of some NFL teams.
Sanchez was signed by the Colts in 2017 as an undrafted free agent and immediately earned the starting kicker job as a rookie after beating out veteran Jeff Locke.
On September 10, 2017, Sánchez made his debut in the NFL in the first game of the season against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Just this year, in March, he got a three-year contract extension in exchange for $7.5 million.
The Colts began the season with very balanced records (Steve Roberts/ USA Today Sports Via Reuters)
According to the records of the official site of the NFLThe Colts have had a balanced start to the season, since in their first games they recorded 3 defeats at the hands of the Packers 16-10, the Texans 29-27 and against the Jaguars 37-34.
In turn, the Indianapolis team also won 3 games against the Cardinals 21-12, Bengals 27-14 and their recent victory already mentioned against the Titans by a score of 20-17, due to this balance the Colts have a percentage of .500 that momentarily places them in second place in the AFC South .
