American football and the sport we call soccer in this country have very little in common beyond the fact that the sports sometimes share stadiums and each allow the same number of players on the field at the same time.
The one consistent thread between the two sports - and the only thing that explains why a game that would more accurately be called throwball can even justify its name - is that there is a position for someone whose only job is to kick the ball.
This position, the much-maligned placekicker (see Scott Norwood for Exhibit A), is one that for generations has given soccer players a chance for the kind of glory that’s proved fleeting for soccer in this country.