Matt Gay on kicking game-winner against former team: “You can’t write it”

[Captain Fear]

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The first game Matt Gay appeared in this season after being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in September just so happened to be against his former team.

The newest kicker for the Los Angeles Rams ended up delivering a 40-yard field goal with less than three minutes to play that served as the game-winning points in a 27-24 victory over the Buccaneers on Monday.

“You can’t write it,” Gay said of the experience, via Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times. “It’s one of those stories. You’re sitting on a practice squad, and then the first game, you’re going back to where you were last year and the place that you know you feel you should have been. Feels great.”

The Rams signed Gay off the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts last week after Kai Forbath injured his ankle against the Seattle Seahawks and was placed on injured reserve. He appeared in all 16 games last season for Tampa Bay, converting 27 of 35 field goal attempts and 43 of 48 extra point attempts. The Buccaneers waived Gay in September and he landed in Indianapolis on their practice squad last month.

Gay converted two of his three attempts against the Buccaneers with makes from 38 and 40 yards and a miss wide right from 44 yards. He converted all three extra point attempts on the night.

“Kind of a crazy story coming back to Tampa,” he said. “Played here last year, and it was a lot of emotions. I thought I hit that (miss) good. Just drifted right on me, but I went to the sidelines and focused on what I did right and made sure I was focused on the next play.”