“Kickalicious”--Norway’s Havard Rugland--was perfect in his preseason debut with the Detroit Lions.
Rugland got the nickname for his soccer trick kicks that were posted on YouTube.
“It’s refreshing to see how much fun he’s having,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford told ESPN. “The guy is having a blast here and he’s doing a great job. He’s kicking the ball great. Obviously, he had two long field goals tonight and got to kick off. Just watching him out there is refreshing for us. … It’s an awesome story and the guy is a pretty darn good kicker.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, Rugland said that he learned English by listening to Wu-Tang Clan
“I’m just talking to him and I was like, ‘You speak English really well. Man, where’d you learn English?’ He was like, ‘Mostly from movies and listening to Wu-Tang.’ It blew my mind,” Lions Guard told the paper.
In training camp and preseason, Rugland is competing with veteran David Akers--who struggled last year for the San Francisco 49ers. It is not common for NFL teams to take two kickers on the 53-man roster, however.
Rugland hit a 49-yard and a 50-yard field goal, but he showed that he still has some growing to do in the sport.
“David (Akers) told me right after, ‘Hey Havard, you got to kickoff. Come on,’” Rugland told MLive.com. “I was celebrating. I was pretty happy.”
He added: “I don’t remember much. I was just so happy. I was in the zone.”
Friends Read Free