Aidan Schneider never dreamed of playing in the NFL.
In fact, he says his desire to pursue a professional football career didn’t even begin until he had already played 10 games as starting kicker for Oregon Football.
But that didn’t stop Schneider from earning a scholarship to play with the Ducks, where he set career records for field goals made and field goal percentage, and landed on the prestigious Lou Groza Award Watchlist for nation’s top placekicker.
“My four years in Eugene flew by but were unforgettable,” Schneider said in a "Thank You Football," post on Medium Saturday. “Playing in front of the best fans in college football at Autzen was special. There is no place like it. I had amazing teammates and coaches that made me excited to arrive at the Hatfield Dowlin Complex each morning, even if it was at 6am.”
With my extra free time over the last few weeks I’ve been doing some writing, including this piece I wanted to share about my experience playing… https://t.co/vHKxGO2Pn7
— Aidan Schneider (@SchneiderAidan) May 3, 2020
It was months after Schneider left Autzen Stadium that his perspective on football and his future took a 180. He worked out in front of Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and then Chicago Bears offensive coordinator and former Oregon coach, Mark Helfrich. He even got to see where his future locker would be in the Kansas City Chiefs locker room-- next to tight end Travis Kelce’s, of course.
But one day, Schneider’s love for football dissipated.
I was within spitting distance of signing an NFL contract… and then, all of a sudden, my desire to play football died. I suppose I can’t say all of a sudden because there isn’t anyone moment I can point to. Maybe it was a series of moments. The disappointment of not getting a call on draft day? Having one of the best kicking weekends of my life with the Chiefs only to be told they never planned on giving me a chance to sign a contract regardless of my performance? Missing a few kicks in my workout at Chicago and realizing midway through that I had missed my chance to get signed? All of these experiences and more contributed to my loss of passion for pursuing a career in professional football. Following my decision to hang it up I questioned if I had made the right choice. I kept going back and forth in my head and tried not to overthink it. “Only time will tell,” I told myself.
He struggled to understand what brought upon the change until a writing exercise designed to help Schneider plan for his future, revealed what was there all along.
“I wrote about how I love my current job working at a startup digital ad agency,” Schneider said. “I wrote about how I want to use the skills I’m learning now to own my own business someday. After about 10 minutes of writing, I stopped to read my scrambled, grammarless thoughts and that’s when it hit me. I hadn’t mentioned football once. Not a single word. Any notion that I had made the wrong decision about moving on from football left me and I felt content and excited about the future.”
It was subtle and unexpected move for Schneider, but it was the right one.
The UO football standout from 2014-17 is no longer defined by solely what he has accomplished on the football field, but it has aided him in finding his zest in life.
"If you had told me as a senior in high school that I would kick field goals in the Rose Bowl and National Championship games, earn a scholarship, set school records, and workout for 3 NFL teams, I would have told you you were crazy,” Schneider said. “Thinking about things this way has allowed me to focus on all the things football taught me. Mental toughness. Resiliency. And most importantly… how to fail.”
Today, Schneider works as a performance marketing manager for a startup digital ad agency in Portland called Take Flight Marketing. Based off his LinkedIn account, this is his third promotion since joining the company in April 2019.
“Football gave me experiences I will never forget and friendships that will last a lifetime,” Schneider said. “But most importantly it has given me the confidence to leave my football career behind and start dreaming again.”
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Former Oregon kicker Aidan Schneider details the day his passion for football died - NBCSports.com
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