Brett Maher’s life has been difficult enough this week. He certainly didn’t need to find himself involved in a spat before the Dallas Cowboys faced the San Francisco 49ers Sunday.
As the embattled Dallas placekicker tried to get in some practice kicks before the game, some 49ers staffers and players got in the way. It appeared 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was attempting to get in some warmup throws in the same area. But video of the incident seemed to show other 49ers personnel just milling around in Maher’s space.
Maher didn’t visibly react, but long snapper Matt Overton and holder Bryan Anger were not pleased. Eventually, 49ers placekicker Robbie Gould appeared to intervene to help clear some space for Maher.
#49ers #Cowboys get into verbal spat over traffic jam on field as kicker Brett Maher attempts to warmup while Brock Purdy gets in his throws. Trent Williams, Aaron Banks and Robbie Gould intervene.
Maher missed 4 PATs in Monday win at Tampa pic.twitter.com/iWJZspQIuC— Cam Inman (@CamInman) January 22, 2023
Whether the 49ers just accidentally encroached on Maher’s practice turf or they were out to get into his head, Maher ended up missing several kicks during warmups. That prompted team owner Jerry Jones to come down on the field and talk to Maher, which one NFL insider deemed “unprecedented.”
Here’s another view of the pregame spat between the two teams, with Cowboys insider Bobby Belt noting, “Mind games between 49ers and Cowboys as Brett Maher warms up.”
Mind games between 49ers and Cowboys as Brett Maher warms up: pic.twitter.com/382skSTUmk
— Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) January 22, 2023
Maher had an historically bad performance in the first round of the playoffs, which saw him miss four PAT attempts.
