ASHBURN, Va. (AP) - Kai Forbath is the latest in a long line of Washington kickers and he isn't worried about becoming another victim of the Redskins' revolving door at the position.
``I am (aware of it) and I'm hoping to stay here for a long time,'' said the 25-year-old Forbath, who was signed Tuesday to replace struggling veteran Billy Cundiff and is Washington's 19th kicker in 18 years.
Cundiff, 32, missed two 31-yard field goals and a 41-yard attempt during the past two games. He followed:
Eddie Murray (1995, 2000), Scott Blanton (1996-98), Chris Jacke (1997), David Akers (1998), Cary Blanchard (1998), Brett Conway (1999-2002), Michael Husted (2000), Scott Bentley (2000), Kris Heppner (2000), Jose Cortez (2002), James Tuthill (2002), John Hall (2003-06), Jeff Chandler (2004), Ola Kimrin (2004), Nick Novak (2005-06), Shaun Suisham (2006-09) and Graham Gano (2009-11).
Suisham's 50 games (including the 2007 playoff loss at Seattle) are the most by a Washington kicker during that span. Hall, Gano, Conway, Blanton and Murray were the only others to last an entire season.
Forbath, the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's top kicker as a UCLA junior in 2009, spent last season on the reserve/injured list with Dallas because of a quadricep that was slow to heal. He was in training camp with Tampa Bay this summer and made all five of his kicks in preseason but didn't beat out incumbent Conor Barth.
``I knew (I would be cut) unless something went wrong with'' Barth, said Forbath, who'll debut Sunday against Minnesota. ``They gave me opportunities and I took advantage of them. I can't thank them enough. I've talked to a lot of kickers in the league and it's taken them team to team to team to stay on a team.
``Two years to (make the NFL), I'm not complaining about that. It's a huge opportunity. I worked out with (veterans Olindon Mare and Josh Brown) yesterday and I did the best I could and apparently it was good enough.''
