The Life of a Kicker

The sun beats on my eye blacked smudged face I throw my small helmet onto my head and begin to pace around. "Is it third or second down?" I ask one of my teammates as I pace the sidelines anxiously. There is no need for an answer as I hear my coach scream, "PUNT ALERT!!" My stomach churns with nerves as I go stand by myself on the side. I see our QBs pass fall way short of the receiver and I don't need any calling, I'm halfway on the field when I hear, "PUNT TEAM LETS GO!" There is no sounds, no feeling. I count off 15 yards and line back. My eyes scan the defense..."shit, there coming" I mutter to myself. I count off our guys, "good all 11." My palms are sweaty as I wipe them against my pants...READY...shouts the H back. I see the snap leave the snappers hands my eyes go wide...hands out. The soft leather smacks into my overly large hands as I begin to mold the ball. I can feel the defense coming and coming fast. I begin to mold a little to quickly. I can see a blue streak breathing down my front. I quickly drop the ball and swing my leg then the sounds of foot smacking ball is heard....what happens next?

It all really depends on what happens next. If it was a good punt then most likely I will come back to the sidelines giving high fives and pounds. If it was a poor punt, well then I am banished to my kicking net. Nobody will acknowledge me, I will maybe hit a few practice punts into the net, pace around..alone. So is the life of a kicker. We are a different breed of athlete. Most of us are capable of hitting long balls (chicks dig the long balls) but come game time something may be off, most likely something is off in your head.

In order to be a kicker you need to have a few screws loose up there. Who else would want to play the most made fun of position in all of sports. Who else is crazy enough to play a game that requires them to be fair game for men 100 to 200 lbs bigger then them. We are different from any other kind of athlete. We have no coaching, we spend most of the practice by ourselves. We are easily the most picked on, biggest head cases on the team. But we come with an attitude. We are one of the most needed people in the game of football. Games are won and lost because of us. We are one of a kind. We play SPECIAL teams, well because we are SPECIAL.

I have missed crucial kicks before. I have had kicks blocked. I have been drilled into the ground on several occasions. BUT I have made big kicks before. I have made big plays in crucial points of the season. For how bad being a kicker may sound I love it. We may not be the biggest out there and we may not be the most popular player or get the girl. But at the end of the day we are satisfied with that. If we wanted that then we would have played QB. And who wants to do that? We are special kids who make special plays on special days.