Before committing to a school on an athletics scholarship, new 49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro had to commit to a sport.
Would it be football or soccer?
After all, Piñeiro, whose father, Eddy Sr., was a professional soccer player for the now-defunct Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the American Soccer League/American Professional Soccer League, had dreams of following in his dad’s footsteps.
“My dad was a professional soccer player, and my goal was always to be a professional soccer player,” Piñeiro said Tuesday on KNBR’s “Murph & Markus” show. “That never happened, but I got a lot of my mindset from my dad. He was a really good soccer player.”
Ultimately, the 30-year-old kicker, who gifted San Francisco a 16-15 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday after nailing a 35-yard field goal as time expired, rejected his college soccer scholarship.
Why?
Piñeiro felt the need to pursue the opportunity that offered a financially stable future for him and his family over pursuing a chancy childhood dream.
“At the end of the day, I wanted to help my family and be able to buy them a house and get them a car. It was more of a financial decision,” Piñeiro admitted. “I mean, I had a scholarship to play soccer in college, and I didn’t take it.”
Piñeiro, now the third-most accurate kicker in NFL history, is in his fifth season since making his debut in 2019.
“I took the football scholarship because I knew this was going to give me the best chance to help out my family and give them a better life,” Pineiro continued. “That was my ultimate goal.”
It’s safe to say Piñeiro made the right decision.
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