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YouTube to UFL: 'Deestroying' Nails First Career Professional Kick for Brahmas

Tom Dierberger

Donald De La Haye, known as "Deestroying" on social media, split the uprights on a field-goal attempt in San Antonio's season-opening game on Saturday.
Donald De La Haye, known as "Deestroying" on social media, split the uprights on a field-goal attempt in San Antonio's season-opening game on Saturday. / Fox Sports

Donald De La Haye, better known on social media as "Deestroying," checked a big item off his bucket list on Saturday.

During the San Antonio Brahmas' clash against the Arlington Renegades to kick off the 2025 UFL season, De La Haye lined up to take his first professional field goal attempt in the second quarter.

As noted on the Fox Sports broadcast, it actually marked De La Haye's first field-goal attempt in a real football game since high school. And he split the uprights to score San Antonio's first points of the season.

Of course, "Deestroying" properly celebrated after making the kick.

De La Haye's football journey is a fascinating one. In 2015 and '16, De La Haye served as a backup placekicker and kickoff specialist at Central Florida while he built a big social following on YouTube. In 2017, De La Haye refused to demonetize or delete his YouTube channel at the NCAA's request and gave up his scholarship.

Four years later, NCAA would begin to allow athletes to make a profit from their name, image and likenesses.

De La Haye briefly spent time with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 2019, appearing in two preseason games. He signed with San Antonio last season and served as a kickoff specialist for two games before suffering a season-ending neck injury.

Now, De La Haye can put a 100% career field-goal percentage on his résumé—which might not look quite as impressive as his 6.23 million subscribers on YouTube.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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