THIS IS HOW THEY GET THEIR KICKS
Booting winning field goals a ‘rush’ for CFL’s best
If the team needs seven field goals to win or just one in overtime, the jobs are essentially the same.
Snap, hold, kick the ball — 1.2 to 1.4 seconds from start to finish — it’s all over in an instant, but the ramifications can last a long time.
The pressure builds on each three-man field goal unit as the magnitude of the remaining games increase and the weather turns Canadian, as every point comes at a larger premium and every missed opportunity to put three on the board might be the difference between hosting a semifinal and watching the playoffs on TSN.
Kicking a potential game-winner under those circumstances is surely not for the faint of heart. It’s for confident pros like B.C.’s Ty Long.
“At the professional level, if you don’t love it, I don’t know if you should be in it because every game could come down to a gamewinning kick, the talent is so even. I enjoy it. That rush, that’s why you do it,” said Long.
His kick Saturday from 39 yards won the season’s only overtime game and capped an almost unfathomable comeback for the Lions, who had trailed the Ticats until there were zeros on the clock in the fourth quarter.
“Absolutely nuts,” he said. “Never been in anything like it before.”
After Hamilton’s Lirim Hajrullahu was wide on a 42-yarder in overtime and B.C.’s fleet-footed Chris Rainey ran it back 62 yards, the stage was set for Long, who approached the moment like every other one.
“When I’m going out on the field, I’m going over my mental preps, focusing on my breathing, telling myself to stay easy, that I’ve made this kick thousands of times.”
Achieving that level of familiarity is partly why he spends 45 minutes visualizing successful kicks before every game.
“When I take my steps back before the kick is even gone, I sort of know it’s going to be in because looking at my steps, I’ve seen them millions of times. Honestly, I knew that kick was in when I took my steps back because it looked so similar to so many times before.”
Saskatchewan’s Brett Lauther hit a game-winner over Toronto Saturday from a whopping 56 yards out, tying one of his earlier efforts for the longest successful kick in the CFL this season.
For years, he couldn’t get a fulltime job in the CFL, making pit stops in Hamilton, Toronto, Edmonton and a couple of previous tries with Saskatchewan. But Tyler Crapigna went down with an injury, Lauther stepped in and isn’t going to let general manager and head coach Chris Jones think about replacing him.
Lauther has hit on 92.9 per cent of his kicks and his big leg is only going to become more valuable in the coming weeks.
“The weather is getting colder, so it’s definitely the time of year when the guys in this league who really can kick and have bigger legs can show off a little more,” said Lauther. “In the summer time, I feel the ball is flying good for everyone. It’s more crucial at this point to hit the ball correctly.
“I always try to pride myself on being able to make the longer kicks and maybe be more of a weapon for the team that I’m on.”
There is a marked difference between the kicker who is a lock from 45 yards and the one you can count on at 50-plus.
“It’s a big difference because it changes the way you call plays going into the last drive,” said B.C. special teams coach Jeff Reinebold. “If you have to get the ball past the 40 to have much of a chance at kicking your field goal, that changes the way the defence calls the game against you and certainly how you have to call the game offensively.”
Reinebold knows the kicking game as well as anyone. He worked with Lauther in Hamilton, Justin Medlock in Winnipeg, Sean Fleming in Edmonton and sees the same big-game confidence in Long. He has also been impressed by Ottawa’s incredible rookie Lewis Ward.
“It’s just phenomenal what he’s been able to do, so consistent as a rookie with all the pressure,” Reinbold said of Ward. He’s not playing a 10-game or eight-game U Sports season. He’s playing 18 games with grown men who need to feed their families and he goes out there with ice in his veins. He’s automatic.”
After missing a 48-yarder in the Redblacks’ first game, Ward has strung together 37 straight successful attempts, a single-season CFL record. He’s two back of the all-time consecutive field goal record set by Rene Paredes over two seasons. And it’s more fun now, even under increased pressure.
Ward kicked seven more Saturday to help Ottawa beat Edmonton 28-15 and get closer to the record.
“I expect to be 100 per cent on the day and those days are adding up to 37,” he said.
I knew that kick was in when I took my steps back ... it looked so similar to so many times before.