There’s been a consistency to Tampa Bay’s inconsistencies with kicking.

"This is a very, very important position,” Bucs GM Jason Licht said.

Matt Gay might just be the solution to a kicking problem that has plagued the Bucs for several seasons. The fifth-round draft pick already won his teammates over with a 50-yard field goal during OTA’s. The kick sent players home earlier than scheduled.

“Those are good moments, to get in those pressure situations,” Gay said. “And then as a rookie coming in, I mean, that’s a moment that you can gain trust with your teammates, win them over.”

Just like his friend Parker Overly predicted he would. Parker pushed Gay into football. The 2017 Lou Groza Award winner’s path to the NFL actually began on a soccer field.

“First love. I mean, that’s the thing as a young child, that was my thing,” he said.

Thanks to Gay’s friend Parker, football became his thing. He hung up his soccer spikes and transferred to Utah to concentrate solely on kicking.

“He was always the one who was like, when are you going to put this soccer thing aside,” Gay said. “You’re going to kick in the NFL. I’m going to be your agent when you kick in the NFL.”

Sadly, Parker never got to see his premonition come true. He was killed in a car accident the spring before Gay made the leap to football.

“He’s still the one I think is with me all the time, pushing me and he’s definitely got me this far,” he said.

Gay honors his friend by writing his initials on his wrists every time he sets foot on a football field.

“He’s been with me every step of the way, you know, in those moments that you really can’t explain, but you know he’s there, you know he’s watching, you know, he’s with you,” Gay said. “And he’s probably pushed a few in for me.”