Former TCU kicker Jaden Oberkrom talks faith, family and kicking
Jaden Oberkrom left the NFL after realizing his true passion was teaching the next generation of college kickers. The former TCU kicker, who still holds the Horned Frogs’ record for field goals made and attempted, remembers the comments from those who questioned his decision.
“I mean you have friends and family. I mean, people called me, they questioned me, they called me dumb, stupid, you know, what are you going through you’re throwing your life away. I got a lot of why don’t you just do it for a year or two and make a million bucks and then go back home,” said Oberkrom.
However, Oberkrom leaned on his Christian faith and felt certain he had made the right decision
“When I was in the NFL, I just felt in a bad place, I didn’t want to be there. It’s just not where God was calling me to be,” said Oberkrom. “I was just praying. I was like, God, what do you want me to do, you know?... My agent called and they said, Hey, Cleveland got you on waivers and you’re gonna fly out tonight and I pulled over and just started praying, and I watched my phone ring and it said Cleveland, Ohio, and I watched it ring twice, and I never answered it, and just called my agent back and I said, Hey, man, like I’m done, I’m out. I want to start training, and then the rest is just history.”
Oberkrom, an Arlington native, attended Martin High School before heading to TCU, where he kicked from 2012 to 2015, earning multiple All-Big 12 selections. His kicking academy now has over 200 students and has helped multiple kickers get scholarships at the Division 1 level, including Griffin Kell, who ended his Horned Frogs career in third place all-time in field goals made at the school.
Reflecting on his decision to forgo the NFL, Oberkrom credited his now-wife for supporting him through a difficult time.
“One person that was like, fully all in with me was my girlfriend at the time, Hayden is my wife now, and so man, it was kind of a dark, lonely place and then we questioned, like, man, are they right? Is this really, really the right decision? It’s funny, you know, once I started this deal, and it’s just kind of gotten so much bigger than what I thought it would, those same people are like ‘You’re so lucky, you get to do what you love. You get a nice schedule,’ and so I guess they came around,” Oberkrom said.
That support was crucial for Oberkrom and he spoke about how the two constantly rely on their faith and let God lead them.
“I mean that’s what marriage is, man, like going through the trenches together the mountain highs and the valley lows,” said Oberkrom. “She’s the second most important relationship in my life, first one being the Lord and man, we just both follow Jesus together and hey, what do you want us to do? Where do you want us to be, and what do you want us to say? And we’ll just go do the thing you tell us to do, at the place you want us to go...we’re just trying to be faithful. So, man, it’s been huge.”
Oberkrom still visits TCU regularly and has one of his kicking academy students, Kyle Lemmermann, at the school now and said his kicking academy was about more than just teaching kids how to make field goals.
“Kicking the ball between two goals, that’s my ministry and so there’s so much more to this than kicking. It’s developing men, honestly, pouring into the dads, that’s a big deal, and making sure they’re chasing after the right thing,” said Oberkrom. “Just trying to be a positive influence for these kids. You know, for the short amount of time I have them in my life.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM.
