The pressures of placekicking
Regina has become a haven for kickers.
The Saskat chewan Roughriders are staging a three-person kicking derby — featuring Chris Milo, Brody McKnight and Ricky Schmitt — during tonight’s CFL pre-season game against the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
Three other kickers of note — all of whom possess NFL credentials — are in the Queen City today for the inaugural Jon Ryan Charity Golf Classic. The Reginaborn Ryan, who punts for the Seattle Seahawks, has a guest list that includes placekickers Steven Hauschka and Jeff Reed.
Hauschka and Ryan are teammates with the Seahawks. Reed, who tried out for Seattle in 2011, spent nine full seasons in the NFL.
Although Reed and Hauschka are not familiar with the Riders’ kicking situation, per se, they know what it is like to compete for a kicking job.
“I’m 34 and I’ve been through it, and I’ve been the rookie at 30-something years old as well,’’ Reed said. “I think that they already have their sights set on one guy. What they’re saying is that it’s an open competition, because they want everybody to perform and because they don’t want to make the coaching staff look bad. However, I think there’s one guy who probably sticks out in practice and who they’re kind of leaning towards. As long as that guy doesn’t totally tank it, it’s probably his job, in my opinion and based on what I’ve dealt with.
“I’ve outkicked a veteran before when I was a rookie and I kind of knew my role, so I got cut and he got the job. That was John Carney. I’ve also went head to head in camp with somebody where I didn’t really outkick him, but he didn’t outkick me and they could have saved money, but I won the job because I was the incumbent. It just kind of depends on the team’s situation.’’
Hauschka agreed with Reed’s assessment.
“I’ve been on a few teams and they kind of know the plan before it all happens,’’ Hauschka said.
“As a kicker, you’ve got to go out there and do everything you can. Mentally, from our standpoint as kickers, you’ve got to go out there in the game and make clutch kicks. I don’t think that’s something that everyone has. When you see some of the younger guys, you can kind of tell whether they’ve got that or not, because you see them hit great kicks in practice and stuff, but when it comes down to some pressure they don’t do that.’’
Milo and McKnight are Canadians, whereas Schmitt is an import. All three players are in the mix with Saskatchewan as punters and placekickers. Being that Schmitt was with eight different NFL teams between 2007 and 2012, he is familiar to Reed and Hauschka.
“He’s got a cannon on him,’’ Reed said in reference to Schmitt and his punting.
What advice would Reed give to Milo, McKnight and Schmitt as far as how to handle the kicking derby?
“Just have fun and do what you do,’’ said Reed, who kicked for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2002 to 2010, celebrating two Super Bowl championships along the way. “You don’t need to put extra stress and pressure on yourself, because if you didn’t have the talent, you wouldn’t even be in this situation with this opportunity. If you don’t have fun, there’s no point in doing it.
“Yeah, it’s a job, because it’s a business and you get treated like that. The older you get, they try to weed you out because other guys are cheaper and stuff like that. Or, if you just don’t do well, they just get rid of you — especially in our position. With kickers, punters and snappers, if you mess up — especially in more than one game — you can forget about it. That’s just the way it is, no matter how old you are.
“Certain guys have a reputation, like Adam Vinatieri, so they’re going to keep them around, no matter what their percentage. But in general, if you’re not having fun doing your job, why are you doing it? The money is great, especially in the NFL. But if you’re constantly stressed out and miserable, it’s not going to get you very far.’’