Life of a Kicker

Louie Aguiar and I had just finished our Pro Combine Qualification Camp in Vegas yesterday and decided to get some lunch and watch the rest of the Patriots/Ravens game.  We started holding this particular camp so that aspiring pro kickers, punters and long snappers, who are working full time while still pursuing their dream of playing in the NFL, can avoid missing a lot of work.

By attending this weekend camp, they have the opportunity to qualify for our annual Pro Combine in front of NFL special teams coordinators and scouts.  Our Pro Combine is the first step in the interview process for free agents to hopefully make an NFL roster.

Championship Sunday, as they call the AFC/NFC championship games, is a high pressure game with a lot of risks and rewards.  What we were about to witness was something not many people get to experience, not even me or many other NFL kickers that are still in the league.

Billy Cundiff, who I consider a good friend, was going to attempt a 32 yard field goal to send the AFC Championship game into overtime.  Anyone who is a kicker and has been in a game tying or winning situation knows the feeling, no matter at what level.  However, being a retired NFL kicker who had been in many last minute/second situations, but not to this magnitude, my stomach started to knot up a little and I became a little nervous.  Here I was at Apple Bee's in Las Vegas, and I was getting nervous...

Any kicker who tells you that they don't get nervous in those situations has been sniffing too much glue. 

They may be able to hide it, but every kicker gets nervous, not only for a game winning or tying kick, but really, for any field goal attempt.  In fact, I remember watching an interview with Jerry Rice, arguably, the best wide receiver to have played the game, saying that he still got nervous on game day after 18 years in the NFL.

As I watched Cundiff miss the kick, I had many thoughts enter my head.  In the meantime, my phone and Louie's phone started to "blow up" with texts.  Former NFL kicker Mike Hollis texted me.  Dallas Cowboys punter Matt McBriar and I exchanged several texts.  One of my kicking students, senior Cornell kicker, Brad Greenway texted me and I received a phone call from James Wilhoit who was driving back to Phoenix after kicking extremely well at our camp this weekend.

Why did Billy rush onto the field?  Maybe he thought that the Ravens were going to use their last time out or had used it and was getting another kick in the net.  Regardless, if I'm a head coach and I see my kicker rushing out there, I call a time out right there.  Nothing good happens when we are rushed.

The end result was a missed kick.  Billy, being the PRO that he is, didn't make any excuses, didn't point any fingers.  He took the blame.  Yes, this miss will sting for a long time.  However, Billy is a strong individual and realizes that there is more to life than a football game.  He will be a better kicker because of this miss, but more importantly, a better person.  It may be hard to see that today, next week or next month, but it will happen.  I always tell my kickers that "You learn more from you failures than you do from your successes." 

After the game I went onto Facebook to see what people were writing.  I noticed several kickers, high school and college posting that they would have made that kick.  As Billy commented, he has made that kick 1,000 times.  However, none of those kickers have ever been, and probably will never be in that position.  So, realistically, they don't know how it feels nor do they know how to manage that pressure situation.  In fact, there are several retired and current NFL players that have never ever been remotely close to that situation, myself included. (I'm not going to even talk about all all of those people who have never kicked a football, yet they feel that they are an authority on kicking.)

I don't know how many NFL kickers have ever been in Billy's situation, down by three points and having to kick a game tying field goal to send the AFC/NFC Championship to overtime.  I can't recall anyone recently.

The only two kicks that I can remember that were somewhat similar, but not exactly the same, were both by Lawrence Tynes.  By the way, congrats to Tynes on making his kick last night to send the Giants to the Super Bowl.  He also kicked a 47 yarder against the Packers a few years back to win the NFC Championship.

However, in both of these situations, the scored was tied.  There is a difference when the scored is tied and you are trying to win it versus being behind in the score and you are trying to tie it or win.  With the score tied, if you miss, the game continues for a little longer, so, hopefully, you will get another chance.

In fact, if you recall, Tynes had missed two field goals in that Packers game, including a 36 yarder at the end of regulation, leading up to his game winner.  What if the Giants had lost that game?

There have been some big misses in post-season games by some of NFL elite kickers in the past.  Mike Vanderjagt, at the time, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed a 46 yard field goal to tie the game against the Steelers in a AFC Divisional playoff game.

Gary Andersen, one of the best kickers in NFL history, after posting a perfect regular season field goal percentage, missed a 39 yarder in the NFC Championship Game against the Falcons, that would have put the Vikings up by 10 points, almost assuring them a trip to the Super Bowl.

The other Anderson, Morten, the NFL all time leading scorer, who, after drilling a 39 yarder in overtime in the same game to send the Falcons to the Super Bowl, missed a 26 yarder in the Super Bowl against the Broncos.

Note: At least one of the "Anderso(e)ns," if not both, will most likely end up in the NFL Hall of Fame.

The life of a kicker seems easy.  We're joked upon by our teammates and even by people who have never even played the game outside of the annual Turkey Bowl in the park.  However, it is not as easy as it seems.  The two biggest things that you need to have are "thick skin and resolve."

John Gruden, once told me, we are like snipers.  We are called upon only a few times and we can't miss.  We have to be perfect.

Ahh, if only this game was perfect.  It's not, we are human and we make mistakes.  We make kicks and we miss kicks.

In the end, I am reminded of a quote from one of our country's greatest Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

Kicking Across Borders

Last week, I had the opportunity to work with Adrian Incapie Esqueda from Monterrey, Mexico.  Adrian and his friend Ricardo had been referred to me by former NFL kicker Raul Allegre.

I had worked with a couple of kicker hopefuls from Mexico who had predominately been soccer players their whole lives.  It can be difficult to get these guys a serious look from pro teams since they usually don't have any American football game experience, at any level.  However, Adrian's situation is different.  He played football at the university level in Monterrey.  Therefore, he has had a few years of actual game experience, which is huge.  In fact, at some of their biggest games, the attendance would be as high as 40,000.

As I have blogged about before, it is one thing to kick of the "sticks" when no one is around,  but it is totally different when you have a "snap, hold, kick" operation.  Let alone a real game.

Adrian is a "combo" kicker, which means that he can kick and punt.  During our sessions, he punted a few balls that had over 5 second hang times.  However, I believe that he is a better kicker.  One thing that NFL coaches will look for in a kicker is the "pop."  That sight and sound where the ball takes off when kicked.  Adrian has that "pop."  He gets good height on his field goals and easily has the strength to kick 60 yard field goals.

On kickoffs, Adrian easily averaged over 4 seconds on hang time with his best one reaching 4.3 seconds.  We kicked from the 30 yard line and he was kicking the ball 2-3 yards deep on average.

Adrian's form is fairly polished and as he implements the few adjustments that I recommended, I believe that should be given a serious look by the NFL.  Adrian will be attending the annual Pro Camp that Louie Aguiar and I host each year in Las Vegas.  This year's camp will be from March 31st - April 5th.  April 5th is our Pro Combine where NFL and UFL teams attend in person to view pro prospects.

I was very impressed with Adrian's kicking and I am looking forward to seeing him in Vegas.

Red Shirt Sophomore Year

After a fun summer back in Hampton lifeguarding at Buckroe Beach, I was ready to get back to school and another season of football.  The starting field goal kicker was returning for one more season.  This meant that I would be the starting kickoff specialist again, but for the whole season.


(During Spring ball, I had gone to Coach Welsh to inquire about a scholarship since I had kicked off the majority of the season with very good success.  He told me that he would wait until after "2 A Days" and see where I stood on the depth chart.)


As we went through practices, it was apparent that I would not be losing my job as the starting kickoff specialist.  After about 2 weeks of training camp, as we were breaking camp to move into our housing for the year, Coach Welsh asked that another player, Ricky Peete, and myself stay behind.


I wasn't sure what he wanted, but felt like this was finally the moment when I would be put on scholarship...Coach Welsh, not one for long speeches, pulled us aside and said, "Hmm.  You guys had a solid training camp, we're putting both of you grant in aid."  He quickly turned and walked away.  Ricky and I looked at each other and asked, "Are we on scholarship now?"  Our guess was yes.  UVA called its scholarships, Grant in Aid.  I didn't care what they called it, I was just eager to call my parents to tell them not to send the tuition check for this semester or any other semesters, again.


Our season was one to remember.  We started out fast, winning several games and putting up a ton of points.  Five out of our first seven games, we put up the following points:

• 59
• 56
• 59
• 63
• 49

We started out 7-0 and by week seven, we had reached the #1 ranking in the country.  The first (and only) for UVA.  It was pretty cool to be playing on a team that was the top ranked team in the country...

Then we had a huge match against Georgia Tech.  They were ranked as well.  It was a back and forth game, with both teams having prolific offenses.  We had a chance late in the game to score a touchdown and take the lead.  However, we had an illegal procedure penalty which ultimately forced us to kick a game tying field goal.

Ga Tech drove down the field where their kicker, Scott Sisson, kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to give them a 41-38 victory...Bugger.

We ended up losing two more games that season to Maryland and Va Tech.  However, we ended up getting a bowl bid to the Sugar Bowl.

The Sugar Bowl is a top tiered New Year's Day game in New Orleans.  Can you say the French Quarter?  Hurricane drinks?  Party! Party! Party!  They provided us with a nice stipend for the week.  There were several parties that we attended, but for the most part we were left on our own to go out and have fun.  We just had to be back by curfew.

During one of our first meetings, once we arrived, the New Orleans Police came and gave us the 411 on the French Quarter.  You only had to be 18 to drink there, but there were a lot of traps, so they warned us to be careful.  The told us to be cautious of one trap in particular.  

While walking on Bourbon Street, sometimes, a young kid would come up to you and say to you, "Mister, I bet you $20 that I know where you got your shoes."  Most people, thinking that, "There is no way that a total stranger would know where I got my shoes," would take the bet.  So, the kid would then say, "You have your shoes on your feet on Bourbon Street."  The kid was right...However, most people would "shoo" away the kid and be like whatever.  Well, the kid would go around the corner where his older brother, cousin and uncle would be waiting.  He would tell them what happened and then they would confront the person with the facts that the kid was correct with his guess.  Therefore, you three choices.  You could pay up, hope that you could win a fight, or hope that you could out run them and get away...     

One item that they did provide us was a "Get out of Jail for Free" card.  That was very cool and I thought that I would never have to use it...

We ended up playing Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl.  We went up early and were ahead at halftime, but they found a way to climb back into the game and ended up winning 23-22.  I can tell you one thing, to this day, I despise their school's song, "Good Ole Rocky Top."  In the fourth quarter alone, with them mounting their comeback, I heard that song too many times.  

Over all, I had another very productive season kicking off.  I recorded over  60% touch backs and even kicked a couple of PATs during the season.  

Now, the starting field goal job was mine to lose and I wasn't going to let that happen.