The pressure on a kicker to perform is immense. Fans know their situation, yet few have experienced it.
The team drives down the field with time running out, needing three points for a win. They have gotten within field goal range and are ready to put the game in their teammate’s hands.
Enter the kicker for the last-second field goal. The kick goes up and the game—or even the season—is on the line.
If the kick sails wide or short, costing your team the game, fans reacts with feelings of anger and despair. But how do you think he feels?
“That’s just the nature of being a kicker. You get a disproportionate amount of the glory if you make it and a disproportionate amount of blame if you miss,” former NFL place-kicker Doug Brien said.
This college bowl season has seen its share of glory and blame. The Sugar Bowl gave fans a glimpse of both ends of the spectrum, with Virginia Tech’s Justin Myer missing his 37-yard attempt in overtime and then Michigan’s Brendan Gibbons drilling his 37-yard game-clinching field goal.
Kicking a game-winning field goal, according to Brien, is a feeling of pure euphoria. “There is nothing more powerful than having that happen on the road when there are 60,000 people screaming their heads off, and then silence ensues.”
But every kicker has also been on the other side, walking off the field after missing a clutch field goal. “It’s a horrible feeling to be put out there, let your teammates down, and not deliver the win,” Brien said. “As much as you want to go back and have that kick over, you can’t.”
For kickers both results...
