Maver won’t quit his day job for tackling
Kicker winces at unorthodox stop on Friday
It could serve as an instructional video. Or, perhaps more accurately, as a cautionary tale.
Because footage, as clear as day, reveals that Rob Maver did every single thing wrong. But even before reviewing the damning evidence in front of his special-teams chums, he knew that his tackle in Friday’s pre-season match was hardly textbook.
“Oh, it was terrible,” the Calgary Stampeders kicker says with a wince. “It was exactly what they tell you not to do. You’re supposed to tackle with your head up, see what you’re hitting, wrap, and come through with your hips. And I put my head down, I closed my eyes — it was just the most dangerous thing ever. Absolute stupidity. It’s not safe doing that.”
Somehow, it worked. The Edmonton Eskimos’ return man went sailing.
“It was funny — he flipped,” says Maver. “The sun shines on a dog’s youknow-what every now and then, and that’s what happened. I’m just lucky that I knocked him down.”
Although he does admit that it was a bit of a hoot to get involved physically.
“I’m not that skinny, I’m 195 pounds. I work out a little. It’s fun filling space. As a kicker or a scraper, you have to fill the space. At the same time, I’ve got to keep my head up. I’ve got to see what I’m seeing, and I’ve got to wrap up and get my hips through.”
But maver is on the premises for his toe, not his tackling. Friday at Mcmahon Stadium, he’d displayed all facets of the kicking game.
“A work in progress,” he reports.
But that’s the whole point of pre-season. Fine tuning — eight quarters’ worth.
“It’s a dress rehearsal, ob- viously, right?” says Maver. “You want to work the kinks out. I wanted to be better than I was (Friday) night. You take pieces, you figure out what you need from it, then you just kind of move on.”
Maver uncorked nine punts, with varying degrees of success.
“A lot to be desired,” says the 26-year-old, who averaged 41.8 yards — 55 being the deepest. “But there were a couple good things. I placed a nice one. I had a couple of OK ones. And a few I’d definitely like to have back. But it’s done. Watched the film. That’s done.”
Additionally, the Brampton, Ont., native attempted three field goals — clunking the upright from 32 yards, before nailing a 50-yarder, then winning the game with last-play perfection.
That, not punting, is his bread and butter.
“When you go out to kick, you fully expect to make them,” says Maver. “You can’t be like, ‘Oh, hey, I made that one.’ You’re a pro. This is what you do. Having said that, I did rattle my first one off the post. Then nine, 10 plays later, I’m out there, and I was pleased with the way I was able to rebound. But I didn’t expect anything else to happen. I think I hit them well.”
Which, of course, is key. Especially considering that it marked his first game action since July 1, 2011, when he’d wrecked his quadriceps in the season opener. (Rene Paredes, Maver’s replacement for the rest of the summer, went 2-for-2 Friday.)
Asked about rust — or even concerns about rust — Maver shrugs.
“This is what you do, right?” he says. “Rene and I are pro kickers, and it had been a while for him, too.”
Punting, however, still needs a coat of polish.
Maver allows that he may have used up his best ones in warm-up. Despite being warned about handling too many pre-game punts, he went ahead and stroked “dozens” of them.
“I’ve got to save it more for the game,” he says. “Just work on it this week and carry it over to the next pre-season game (Friday at Saskatchewan).”
But — with mainstay Burke Dales now up the road in Edmonton, with Aussie challenger Scott Crough (and his balky back) now completely out of the picture — Maver is the punter in Calgary.
Earlier in camp, Stamps boss John Hufnagel mentioned that he’d so far “enjoyed” the punting of Maver. High praise. And the man himself is anything but worried about adding to his portfolio. Efficiency — distance and placement — will come.
“Just a rhythm thing,” says Maver. “I mean, I’ve had a really good training camp in terms of punting. Obviously, you’re always working to get better. In terms of how things have gone — pretty positive for the most part. But at the same time, at this level, the only thing that matters is how you hit your next kick, right?”