By Justin Parmer
Medill Reports
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Even after 59 iterations of the game, Sunday’s Super Bowl LX will add yet another first. Born in Caracas, New England Patriots kicker Andrés Borregales is set to become the first Venezuelan player to play in the Super Bowl.
The milestone comes amid rising tensions between Washington, D.C., and Caracas after U.S. armed forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January.
“It’s definitely something I don’t take lightly,” Borregales said. “There’s a lot of people who had to leave their country or are still there who are now big fans of football and have the goal to be at this level.”
Also known as Andy, Borregales grew up in Miami after his family emigrated from Venezuela when he was a toddler. He became a dual-sport athlete early, playing both soccer and football by the age of 5.
Borregales’ path to the NFL was defined by consistency and distance long before he set foot in Foxborough. Following in the footsteps of his older brother José, Borregales spent four years at the University of Miami, becoming the program’s all-time leader in scoring while also setting the record for most consecutive field goals made. He went 18 for 19 on field goals during his senior season and missed just one extra point in 184 collegiate attempts.
He was selected by the Patriots in the sixth round with the 182nd overall pick, becoming the first kicker in Miami program history to be drafted. Yet the success Borregales showed at the collegiate level was tested early. He missed a 40-yard field goal in the season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, then went 1 for 3 on point-after attempts on the road versus the Miami Dolphins, in the same stadium where he became a Hurricanes legend.
“I think when you go through your struggles early on, you’ve got to be able to listen to the people that know it and that can help you, and he did that,” Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. “Because of that, and because of taking care of his body, he’s been able to progress and get better from there.”
The rookie kicker has rebounded since Week 2, finishing the regular season without missing another extra point. Despite missing two field goals from beyond 45 yards in the AFC championship game under far-from-ideal kicking conditions, Borregales played a crucial role in getting New England back to the Super Bowl, finishing the regular season 27 for 32 on field goal attempts.
“It’s never going to be perfect,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said. “Every kick isn’t going to be made. But when we’ve needed Andy, I think he’s really settled in.”
Among the highlights, Borregales went 4 for 4 in Week 12 on the road in Cincinnati, including a 52-yard field goal to seal the win. The performance puts Borregales alongside 2026 inducted Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri, becoming the second Patriots rookie to earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Borregales also went 3 for 3 on the road in Buffalo, including a game-winning 52-yard field goal with seconds remaining. He found redemption against the Dolphins in mid-December, hitting a career-long 59-yard field goal at home to end the first half.
“He’s been kicking in the south his whole life, in Miami,” Springer said. “Being able to come up to Boston – the maturity that he’s shown, the improvement in how he handles his body, it’s been really cool to see as a rookie. I think he’s got a lot of potential.”
Borregales isn’t the only rookie making key contributions to New England’s kicking game. Long snapper Julian Ashby, selected in the seventh round of the draft, has been the man delivering the ball to Borregales for each kick. Ashby first met Borregales at the Hammer Kicking Academy in 2021, and they continued crossing paths as they prepared for the NFL.
“We spent all of last winter together training for this,” Ashby said. “So to end up on the same team has been really cool. He and I get along well, and it’s been a fun journey.”
Since then, the relationship has evolved into something closer to a brotherhood, spanning both on and off the field,one that has brought them a game away from winning a Super Bowl ring.
“At the end of the day, it’s always going to be love,” Borregales said. “We’re going to pick on each other, but no matter what happens, we’re always going to have each other’s backs.”
Justin Parmer is a sports media specialization graduate student at Medill.