The Patriots have long looked outside the margins for talented football players, and their latest experiment is with a trick-shot kicker who never played college football.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the Patriots are bringing on Josh Gable for a tryout.
Gable’s been playing for something called the Nebraska Danger of something called the Indoor Football League, and also did a turn in the Spring League in West Virginia earlier this year.
He played international soccer (signing with an Italian team after high school), and has knocked around the fringes of various indoor leagues since coming home. In his spare time, he’s produced a number of trick-shot videos, including one of him nailing the goalpost while kicking from the goal line.
The Patriots are well-covered on special teams with Stephen Gostkowski, but Gable obviously got their attention with his unique skills, and as other players have shown, sometimes the gimmick can be the foot in the door, as quarterback Alex Tanney’s still hanging around with the Titans.
Or maybe Bill Belichick has something up his sleeve, and is thinking about bringing back the drop kick.