Punahou alumnus Ka‘imi Fairbairn made NFL history over the weekend in a 23-21 win for the Houston Texans over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Fairbairn, the starting kicker for the Texans, made all three of his field goal attempts, including two from over 50 yards. He also made both extra point tries. In doing so, he surpassed 1,000 career points, becoming the first player in Texans franchise history to reach the milestone.
After graduating from Punahou in 2012, Fairbairn won the starting job at UCLA as a true freshman. He kicked for the Bruins for four years, winning the Lou Groza Award as college football's top kicker in 2015. He went 20-for-24 on field goals and 47-for-47 on extra points that year. He was also a consensus All-American.
Although he went unselected in the 2016 NFL Draft, Fairbairn latched on with the Houston Texans and has been with the franchise for 10 straight seasons.
Over the course of his career, Fairbairn has made 87% of his field goals (247-for-283) and 93.3% of his extra point tries (264-for-283). NFL extra points are kicked from 33 yards away, while college extra points are from 20 yards. He is one of four Punahou alums currently playing in the NFL, joining DeForest Buckner of the Indianapolis Colts, Andrei Iosivas of the Cincinnati Bengals and Marist Liufau of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Texans are currently 10-5 and hold the final wild card spot in the AFC playoff race. On Saturday, they have a pivotal matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers (11-4). Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. on the NFL Network.
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
