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Joseph Pasteris is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. An undrafted prospect out of Massachusetts in 2019, he has kicked for the BarneyHunter Trolls, Amazon Drivers, MuchoNetwork Muchies, Stop & Shop Shoppers, Famly Carriers, Atkore Engineers, and United States Postman.

Professional career
Pasteris went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft, but signed a 3-year rookie contract with the BarneyHunter Trolls on June 17th, 2019. Pasteris converted 20 out of 23 field goal attempts (87.0%) in his rookie season, and made all 37 of his extra points, hitting a long of 51 yards in the process.

Following the Trolls' contraction by the NFL after the 2019 season, Pasteris' contract rights were claimed by the Amazon Drivers. He was signed to the practice squad on August 31, 2020 and intended to be the Drivers' backup kicker to Basil al-Nammari for the season.

On September 8, 2020, the MuchoNetwork Muchies signed Pasteris off the Drivers' practice squad to a 3-year contract, replacing Roy van Liew (the team's punter and longtime kicker) at the placekicker position. In November, Pasteris hit his career long of 55 yards. During his first stint with the Muchies, Pasteris hit 40 out of his 44 field goal attempts (90.9%), but missed two of his 83 extra point attempts (97.6%), one of which was blocked. On October 10, 2021, partially throughout his second season with the team, the Muchies released Pasteris, citing "a dispute involving [abuse of] charity from the team." Liew was announced to regain his kicking duties after the team released Pasteris. However, on November 13, 2021, Pasteris met with the Muchies for a free agent visit. It was after this visit that Pasteris re-signed with the team to their practice squad.

In December 2021, it was rumored the Amazon Drivers, Pasteris' former team, had interest in signing him off the Muchies' practice squad, and would ultimately be proven when the Drivers announced intent to sign him on December 9th, 2021. However, the Drivers would later elect not to sign Pasteris on December 23, 2021, after a failed team physical, giving the Muchies a credit to their cap space.

After the 2021 season, the Muchies opted not to sign Pasteris to a futures deal, making him a free agent. The Muchies thanked Pasteris for his service to the team, but opted to "go in another direction with the special teams operation."

Several days after the Muchies elected not to re-sign him, on January 19, 2022, the Stop & Shop Shoppers signed Pasteris to a futures contract.

However, several months later, on May 14, 2022, Pasteris was traded to the Famly Carriers for a 2023 5th round pick, after what was described as a “disastrous” minicamp, where Pasteris missed several field goals wide. Reports state that Pasteris’ misses were all from beyond 50 yards, where he was 6-for-13 from 50-59 yards, and 2-for-9 from 60+ yards.

On August 9, 2022, Pasteris was traded to the Atkore Engineers for a conditional 2023 7th round pick. In three games for the Engineers, Pasteris made only 4 out of 8 field goal attempts, including a missed 48 yard game winner, which hit the left upright. On September 27th, the Engineers released Pasteris.

Pasteris worked out for the Amazon Drivers again on July 7, 2023. After a successful physical, the Drivers signed Pasteris to a 1-year veteran minimum contract on July 10, 2023. However, Pasteris would be waived on August 12, 2023 after missing two field goals (51 and 54 yards) in a preseason matchup. He was claimed by the United States Postmen off of waivers on August 14, 2023.

The Postmen placed Pasteris on injured reserve on September 27, 2023, after rolling his ankle and injuring his knee during Week 3. He had gone a perfect 6-for-6 on field goals with a long of 52 yards. On December 2, 2023, the Postmen activated Pasteris from injured reserve. After finishing the regular season with an 8-for-8 stretch on field goals, the Postmen faced the Amazon Drivers in the Wild Card round of the postseason. Pasteris missed crucial 51 yard and 37 yard field goals, which forced the game to go to overtime. Although the Postmen won, Pasteris was released on January 25, 2024.

Controversy
On October 11, 2021, the day after Pasteris was released by the Muchies, it was reported Pasteris lied about potential abuse by his family to gain sympathy and a place to stay from the team's punter: Roy van Liew, and that Pasteris stayed with Liew between August and October of 2021. After Pasteris incurred hundreds of dollars in debt to Liew and Gonzalo Parada, the team's long snapper, it was discovered by the team after communicating with Pasteris' family that they had been lied to and that Pasteris was never abused by his parents. After a secret meeting with the front office, the decision was made to release Pasteris from the team, citing a difficulty to work with him after said incident. Pasteris apologized on October 15, and announced that he intends to continue kicking in the NFL, with the Muchies or another team. The team announced that Pasteris was re-signed to their practice squad after a free agent visit on November 13, 2021, stating that the matter was “satisfactorily resolved” and that Pasteris “learned a lot from his mistakes, and he’s welcomed back with open arms.”