Kicker puts best foot forward
Montreal youngster is in Punt, Pass and Kick event in New England
Jayden Rice was awake at 4:45 Tuesday morning at his home in South Shore St-Mathieu-sur-Richelieu to make the trek into Montreal with his father and a date with, they hope, destiny.
This Sunday, the 11-year-old Grade 6 student at William Latter Elementary in Chambly will compete in the finals (New England region) of the National Football League-sanctioned Punt, Pass and Kick competition, a grassroots initiative for boys and girls age 6 to 15 that allows them to experience the fundamentals of the game without contact. Rice made it this far by surviving through local and sectional tournaments in Vermont and Massachusetts. He hopes to be one of the top four in his age category that advance to the national championship, held this January during a playoff game.
Rice will compete during halftime of this weekend’s game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The venue has a capacity of nearly 67,000. He’ll be following in the footsteps of, among others, Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. An oversized Reid was 13 when he represented the Rams in 1971, utilizing his height and weight advantage to excel.
“I’m kind of excited but, at the same time, I’m stressed about not hitting the ball right,” said the precocious Rice, who has come to Concordia University’s Stingers Dome this morning for one final session with Gerry McGrath.
McGrath, 57, spent seven seasons in the Canadian Football League as a punter and placekicker with Montreal, Ottawa and Saskatchewan before becoming the Stingers’ head coach in 2000. He retired after the 2013 season and now works as a kicking coach, having mentored the Alouettes’ Boris Bede and Montreal’s J.J. Molson, who earned a scholarship to UCLA.
“When you look at aspiring, elite athletes, that’s the price they have to pay — the early mornings, the grinds. It’s a choice you make. And when you make those choices, you have a great chance at success,” McGrath said. “He (Rice) has potential. He has really long legs. He’s got great levers. He has tremendous foot speed and explosion in his legs. He definitely has a lot of potential.”
Although still a modest 5-foot1 and 95 pounds, Rice has made 40-yard field goals. His qualifying punt in the tournament travelled 46 yards, including a net distance of 39 yards. His kickoffs have gone more than 50 yards.
How serious is the left-footed Rice? He has had business cards printed listing him as a professional football kicker with the Green Bay Packers, including his phone number, website (jaydenkicker.com) and email address. A member of the St. Bruno Barons the last four seasons, Rice has decided to concentrate exclusively on kicking for the team. The family has a seven-foot high kicking net in the main entrance of their home, the youngster confidently predicting he’ll be kicking one day in the NFL — hopefully for his beloved Packers.
His father, Dean, just ordered two more pairs of shoes and said he spends between $500 and $600 annually on the cleats. And, keeping with the tradition of flaky kickers, the superstitious son must have his father tie his shoes, ensuring the snugness and tightness are correct.
The knock against kickers is they’re not real players, but the young Rice disagrees. And while some have stated they don’t want a game’s result resting on their foot, Rice said he would thrive under such scrutiny.
“You’re doing the sport and wearing the equipment,” he said. “You’re playing with contact. The kicker has to tackle. He has to run after a guy.
“I like having pressure on me. It’s a great feeling when you do it and everyone (congratulates) you and cheers you. If it’s the Super Bowl, everyone’s counting on you. They’ll say the kicker saved the game for us.”
McGrath, better than anyone, understands as Rice grows and matures, the game will become as much a mental as physical challenge. And perhaps more of the former. Bede missed a field goal last season late in the Als’ opening game, which started a downward spiral for the second-year pro. After missing nine of 16 attempts through six games, the beleaguered Bede was eventually benched, replaced by Anthony Fera, and didn’t resurface until mid October.
McGrath’s final pieces of advice to Rice on Tuesday were to remain relaxed, warm up properly, don’t watch the competitors, locate his spot on the ball and, above all, worry about himself.
“As he gets older, it’ll become a mental game,” McGrath said.
Dean Rice, meanwhile, is proud how far his son has advanced despite the seemingly daunting odds.
“It feels great that he got this far and enjoys it,” said the father, who owns a distribution centre for construction materials. “It’s nice for him to have that dream ... to push and try to achieve that dream. Every parent wants that for his child.”
“I’m kind of excited but, at the same time, I’m stressed about not hitting the ball right.” — Jayden Rice