AGOURA HILLS, Calif. — The field goal attempt at Alex and Angela Ward’s wedding reception on March 29 wasn’t a planned stunt. It was a natural extension of a relationship built around football.
Alex, a long snapper for the Las Vegas Raiders, and Angela, a former tennis pro, have spent months practicing snaps. After Alex was released by the Los Angeles Rams in November, Angela helped him stay sharp by catching nearly 1,000 snaps. She even requested a special ceremony leading up to their wedding day.
During the reception at Villa di Rocca, Dylan Barnas — Alex’s kicker from the University of Central Florida — toasted the couple and then set up a field goal attempt with Angela as the holder. The video went viral, garnering over a million views on multiple platforms and being featured on NFL Network.
Another angle by popular demand thanks to the @NFL 😂 Shoutout to @ashotoflovefilms for capturing our special day! pic.twitter.com/wh1UVYBlf9
— Angela (Kulikov) Ward (@AngelaKulikov) April 2, 2026
The snap was closer than usual due to space constraints, and the ball arrived with laces facing in — the opposite of what they had practiced. Angela calmly placed the ball, spun the laces out, and adjusted the tilt before Barnas kicked it between two palm trees and over a cliffside. Her ring and manicure survived unscathed.
“It made it so much more popular because she nailed the hold,” Alex said.
Some social media comments criticized Alex’s snap and Barnas’s kick as “wide left,” but the couple is used to outside noise. Angela said they’ve never fought in almost three years together, adding, “there’s nothing worth fighting about when you’ve gone through the crap we’ve gone through.” Both have faced injuries and career uncertainty — Alex is coming off free agency for the first time and expects competition in Las Vegas. But they lean on each other.
“I think we know the difficulties and challenges that come with being elite at a sport, there’s this really deep empathy,” Angela said. “We are best friends, teammates and partners and sports taught us the core of that and has helped us evolve and blossom into something special.”
