Vikings cut kicker who missed game-deciding field goal in the playoffs and was never the same

Hannah Foslien/Getty

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Tuesday that they have released kicker Blair Walsh, who infamously missed a potential game-winning 27-yard field goal in the waning seconds against the Seahawks in the NFC playoffs last season. 

Walsh, 26, has simply not been the same since that kick. Through his six-year career he is an 84% field-goal kicker, but has made just 75% of field goal attempts this season. More troubling was his inconsistency at extra points, where Walsh missed 4 of 19. 

During the playoffs last season, the Vikings appeared to be on the verge of upsetting the Seahawks. Trailing 10-9 with 23 seconds left in a bitter cold Minnesota atmosphere, the Vikings set Walsh up for the win, and he flat out shanked it:

It was a brutal miss, but the Vikings stood by him. This season, though, he was inconsistent.

Kicking is as mental a job as one can find in sports, and Walsh is clearly plagued by something like the yips. It's never fun to struggle in that way, of course, and hopefully he gets another shot in the league.