Football was never the plan for the Kansas City Chiefs’ newest placekicker, Spencer Shrader; was football.

He played many sports growing up, including a year of football in high school, but in his mind this was all just a fun sideshow on the way to his real goal: playing the beautiful game alongside the world’s greatest players on the international stage .

After high school, he traveled to Brazil and Canada, where he played semi-pro football for a while, but that was as far as his journey took him. When he returned to Lithia, Florida, he had a decision to make.

What did he want to do with his life now that football was off the table?

He chose to continue as a kicker at the University of South Florida, where he earned a scholarship after two seasons. After graduating from South Florida, he played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as a grad transfer for the 2023 season.

It was a long road, but his efforts caught the attention of NFL executives.

Despite having an established veteran at placekicker, Harrison Butker, the Chiefs do their due diligence every offseason by scouting all new placekickers entering the draft. Shrader was the top player on their roster last season.

“We liked him early,” Chiefs coordinator and assistant head coach Dave Toub said Thursday during a call with the media. “You look at the consistency of his technique. You know, the rotation of the ball, the leg strength.”

So when Butker ended up on IR due to a knee injury, the Chiefs picked up the phone. What happened next was a whirlwind.

Shrader played for the New York Jets on their practice squad.

“I got a text from my agent and he said, ‘Hey, call me right away,’” Shrader recalls.

Shrader picked up the phone and dialed his agent’s number; When his agent responded, he told him that the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to sign him to their active roster to fill in while Butker was recovering from his injury.

Shrader had a decision: should he stay on the Jets practice squad or take a leap of faith and join the defending Super Bowl champions, knowing that this experience was for a limited time and that his spot on the team would be a had an expiration date?

After praying about it and talking to his family, Shrader decided to join the Chiefs. The news broke just after 4pm on Thursday and by 7pm he was on a plane to Kansas City.

Shrader arrived at the facility Friday morning for his medical clearance and to complete some training before joining his new team on a trip to Buffalo for their biggest game of the regular season.

Despite being nervous, he said he relied on his teammates’ abilities for confidence.

“Obviously these guys are so good and so professional. There is no doubt that the ball will be where it is supposed to be. So as long as my timing is right and I take care of my business, I’ll be fine, so you can just trust going into the game like you’re an elite athlete.”

The Chiefs like what they’ve seen from Shrader so far.

“He hit a couple of 65 yards in practice the other day,” Toub said. ‘So he has a very strong leg. In fact, we had to put it back when we first started scoring extra points because we were hitting them over the net – we were losing footballs.

Shrader understands that he is joining a team with the goal of winning the Super Bowl.

“I will never take it for granted,” Shrader said. “One of the special things about coming here is that you have enormous respect for the people who are here and for what has been built.”

Shrader knows his time with the Chiefs is limited, but he also knows that if he does his job, he has a chance to be part of something special.

“I just want to come in and do the best I can for this team with the time I have – certainly grateful for this opportunity, but not so overwhelmed that I’m not able to focus and understand. I have work to do and can still receive calls every day.”

Although still green and largely untested as a professional, Shrader said he doesn’t suffer from imposter syndrome.

“I think every time you’re in a situation like this, you just get a little bit more confident, just a little bit more like, ‘Oh yeah, I get it here. I can do it here. I can do it here.’

“And you just keep doing your best, even when things don’t go your way. At a certain point you understand that that is also part of the process. There is an opportunity to make you stronger or weaker. You can choose.”

So while his time with the Chiefs may be fleeting, Shrader chooses to live in the moment.

“The way I see it, everything is day to day anyway: tomorrow is not guaranteed. So I don’t get too caught up thinking about, you know, should I be here for a week, two weeks, four weeks?

“For me it’s just maximizing the day, doing the best with the opportunities I have. And then, Lord willing, I’ll get another chance tomorrow, wake up and go back to work.