Xavier Beitia (born November 23, 1982) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

placekicker who last played for the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2007. He played college football at Florida State and signed with the New York Jets in 2004 and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in 2006. Within NFL Europe, he played for the Berlin Thunder.

High school years

Beitia attended Jesuit High School of Tampa in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

and kicked for coach Dominic Ciao. While in high school, he participated in the first ever

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

game in 2000.

College career

At Florida State, Beitia was well known for having missed a potential game-winning field goal against Miami (Fla.). The kick went wide left as time expired in 2002, in what would continue the bizarre " Wide Right" saga. Beitia's miss at the

Miami Orange Bowl The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landm ...

was dubbed " Wide Left I," and it affected him openly and deeply. More than one year later, Beitia missed another field goal in the

2004 Orange Bowl The 2004 FedEx Orange Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles on January 1, 2004, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Miami defeated FSU 16–14 in a stout d ...

which would have given the Noles the lead with about five minutes left. This would be known as "Wide Right IV". The Miami Hurricanes went on to win that game, 16-14.

Professional career

In 2004, he signed with the New York Jets. In 2006, Xavier became a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being used as a punter, but not for field goals. Tampa Bay sent him to NFL Europe that year, where he played for the Berlin Thunder. He was released by Tampa Bay in August 2006. Beitia went on to become a kicker for in the AFL for the Georgia Force, before being waived in May 2007.

Personal life

In 2012 Xavier started training CrossFit at Hallandale Beach CrossFit and subsequently met the woman who would become his future wife (Talisha Mora) at the box, They were engaged on July 28, 2015 and Wed on May 21, 2016. Talisha has a daughter (Alyssa Mora)

References

External links

Stats from ArenaFan.com
* http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/g2834749/wedding-costs-real-couples/?slide=16 1982 births American football placekickers Florida State Seminoles football players Georgia Force players Living people Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Jesuit High School (Tampa) alumni {{ArenaFootballLeague-stub