Brandon Aubrey was pretty sure that being the kicker for the Dallas Cowboys would exempt him from jury duty.
He was surprised when he ended up serving on a domestic violence case that lasted a week and resulted in the jury sentencing the defendant to 65 years in prison.
“Eye-opening, long, frustrating, depressing, hearing the story,” Aubrey said on Thursday during an interview with a member of the Cowboys’ media relations team. “The story was a sad one. I don’t really want to get into all the details of the story, but it was very depressing and dragged on longer than anybody expected it to. So, glad it’s over.”
Aubrey wasn’t in the Dallas locker room during the team’s media availability on Thursday. A team staffer later emailed a transcript of his interview to the media.
A year ago, Aubrey set an NFL record as a 28-year-old rookie by making the first 35 kicks of his career. His record streak of eight straight games with at least one field goal of 50 yards or more ended last weekend in a 30-24 loss to San Francisco. The Cowboys (3-4) are set to play against Atlanta (5-3) on Sunday.
With Aubrey’s anonymity likely lost due to this eventful start to his career, he mentioned that the judge informed everyone during jury selection who he was.
Aubrey said he has a sister-in-law who is a prosecutor, and she told him that his celebrity status would disqualify him from serving.
Aubrey, who had postponed his jury summons once but wasn’t allowed to do it again, also believed he had a valid reason to present to the judge—being at the team’s facility to prepare for last weekend’s game in San Francisco.
The judge recognized him by name and said he could come back to discuss any conflicts, Aubrey explained. The next thing he knew, the judge was stating that Aubrey wouldn’t have any conflicts because the court wouldn’t be in session over the weekend.
“I could have been more assertive and at that point, everyone knows who I am there, and I don’t want to sound like I think I’m better than anyone else or that I’m above the job,” Aubrey said.
“So I kind of sat there quietly and didn’t say anything, which was probably a mistake. I figured at that point still, he’s not going to pick me.”
As it turned out, Aubrey had to rush to fit in his kicking practice during the week. He didn’t arrive at the facility until close to sundown last Thursday, first battling the sunset and actually kicking in the dark for a while with long snapper Trent Sieg and punter Bryan Anger as his holder.
Aubrey couldn’t practice comfortably under the lights of the team’s indoor facility because it was being used for a high school game.
“You can’t really see where you’re kicking, and for Bryan in particular, trying to catch the snaps, he had a hard time at first tracking the ball and hitting the spot,” Aubrey said. “So, it was a lot harder, but I really just wanted to get my leg moving and keep my body fresh for game day.”
Aubrey wasn’t really tested against the 49ers, making his only field-goal attempt from 29 yards and converting all three extra points.
A former Major League Soccer prospect who played at a high school in the Dallas area and at Notre Dame, Aubrey got a chance with the Cowboys last year after they scouted him in the USFL.
When he was trying to catch the attention of professional teams, Aubrey would leave his day job and head straight to local fields to kick. Serving jury duty brought back those memories.
“It reminded me a lot of my schedule as a software engineer when I’d work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then go race down to this area, a local field not too far away, and try to fight the sunset as well,” Aubrey said. “It’s something I’ve done before.”
