Xavier Beitia (born November 23, 1982) is an

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

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

who last played for the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) in 2007. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

in 2004 and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in 2006. Within

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

, he played for the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

Early life

Beitia attended Jesuit High School of Tampa in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...

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 (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) 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 p ...

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 venue was considered a landmark and ser ...

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 ...

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