New Argo puts unique spin on kicking
Michael Palardy one of only two left-footed kickers currently playing in CFL
It’s been a whirlwind for Michael Palardy, the Argos’ latest emergency replacement kicker, who is following on the heels of the team’s two previous emergency replacements, Dave Stala and Ronnie Pfeffer.
While Stala and Pfeffer were homegrown talents, Palardy is feeling like a stranger in a strange land that uses funny money and has strange football rules.
Palardy was at home in Georgia sitting on the couch watching TV last week when a phone call came from the Toronto Argonauts.
They needed him for Saturday’s game in Ottawa against the Redblacks, and beyond, because Swayze Waters reinjured his groin and is likely done for the season.
“It was a different idea to process,” Palardy admitted to the Star upon receiving the offer. “I’ve seen a couple of games, but I didn’t watch enough to understand what the real rules are until I came up here and everything was thrown at me.”
The graduate of the University of Tennessee had just been released by the St. Louis Rams and he hadn’t given up on his dreams of playing in the NFL.
In 2014, the Oakland Raiders offered him a tryout, but bad luck intervened.
“Two days before we were to play Minnesota, my stomach started to hurt in the morning,” Palardy explained, “and it got progressively worse to the point where I couldn’t stand. I had my appendix out and the next day they released me.”
Then, this season, he watched as his understudy at Tennessee, Matt Darr, won the punting job with the Miami Dolphins. He’s happy for Darr and texted him to congratulate him.
Palardy had never been to Canada before. Upon arriving on Friday, he was handed some per diem money, and he thought the money was plastic. He’s also had to get used to a new
“He’s played in big games and on a big stage.” JIM BARKER ARGOS GM
ball, which is fatter than the NFL football, and kicking field goals off a tee.
“We’ve had him on our list for a while,” Argos general manager Jim Barker said. “He’s played in big games and on a big stage. It’s tough in one week, but we’ll see how he does.”
In his senior year at Tennessee, Palardy averaged 44.5 yards per punt, but only 82.4 per cent on field goals, a career high (overall, he was 74 per cent in four years for the Volunteers).
His career highlight came on Oct.19, 2013, when he booted the game-winning field goal in the final seconds to knock off the No. 11 South Carolina Gamecocks 23-21.
Born in Coral Springs, Fla., Palardy followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Matthew, 30, who was a soccer player at the University of Florida.
Palardy was different. He kicked left-footed and he also threw lefthanded as a quarterback in high school.
“I do everything backwards,” he joked.
Palardy and Justin Medlock of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the only left-footed kickers in the CFL. Kicking left-footed has its advantages.
Palardy expects that few punt returners in the CFL will be accustomed to catching the ball that spi- rals down in the opposite direction.
The 23-year-old stayed after practice on Wednesday to boom some punts while special teams coach Scott Downing clocked his hang time, which regularly was an impressive five seconds or more.
On field goals, Palardy was missing several from around 40 and beyond, and the new kicker explained later that he was feeling a bit fatigued.
After all, he’s trying to get a rhythm down as the Argos experiment with both Trevor Harris and Stala as the holders.
Palardy is also trying to get his bearings with new teammates and a new country. He doesn’t even know where Ottawa is on a map.
“Just point out where the football stadium is and I’ll be there,” he said confidently.