Evan McPherson is in his sixth season as the kicker of the Cincinnati Bengals. His younger brother, Alex, is doing the family business proud.
Alex McPherson kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired, vaulting unranked Auburn to a 27-24 win over No. 1 Georgia. It’s the second straight weekend in which the No. 1 team lost to an unranked foe, after Oklahoma defeated No. 1 Texas last Saturday.
Auburn was an 18.5-point underdog for the game played in Athens, Georgia.
Alex McPherson’s personal story makes his achievement far more noteworthy. In 2024, a bout with severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease resulted in the removal of his entire large intestine.
“That week I began to feel sick, I would run to the bathroom 15-20 times a day,” Alex McPherson said last year. “I thought I just had the flu or a stomach bug or something going on. My weight was down. I had lost 20 pounds.”
He eventually lost 55 pounds. When he was admitted to the hospital, he weighed 110 pounds.
He’s now back to full health. In high school, Alex kicked a 61-yard field goal.
“It’s been really fun, really excited just to be back to normal from where I was,” Alex McPherson said at the SEC Media Days in July 2026. “Just to have that strength back to kind of kick how I want to and how I used to. I think I’m kicking as good as I have since before I got sick and it’s just really exciting to be able to do that and play with the guys to the full extent.”
Alex McPherson is in his final year at Auburn. Come 2027, he could be joining his big brother in the NFL. It’s an outcome that would have been inconceivable two years ago.