Parkey’s blocked kick tough to watch
Cody Parkey’s blocked field goal for Bears a kick in the gut for Valparaiso grad Ficken
Valparaiso graduate Sam Ficken could relate to Bears kicker Cody Parkey in an uncomfortable way. Ficken, a former Penn State kicker, once missed four field goals and an extra-point attempt in a 17-16 loss to Virginia.
Sam Ficken, a Bears fan, was watching last Sunday when Cody Parkey caromed a kick off the uprights against the Philadelphia Eagles in the final seconds of the NFC wild-card playoff game.
The 43-yard field goal would have been the winner in a 16-15 loss. Instead, the blocked kick will be a generational footnote for Bears fans.
Some will never forgive Parkey.
Ficken, a 2010 Valparaiso graduate, could relate in an uncomfortable way.
The former Penn State kicker once missed four field goals and an extra point in a 17-16 loss to Virginia.
He knew as soon as he saw Parkey’s kick bounce backward it was going to get ugly.
“I just really felt for him,” Ficken said. “I’ve had my share of struggles. You just never want to see a guy go through that. It’s unfortunate.”
Parkey was vilified on social media. Every Bears fan has an opinion, and the prevailing sentiment is the team should cut him.
Ficken has no thoughts on Parkey’s future, but he knows this.
When he missed four field goals and an extra point, and when he came home to his phone buzzing from Twitter notifications, he got better.
The awful day helped Ficken get off the mat.
“I’m not one to get into sports psychology,” he said. “It is motivating when every ding on your phone is someone tweeting something (negative) at you.
“I understand the frustration. You are expected to perform at a high level. It’s frustrating for the fans and the team.”
Has Parkey performed to a high level?
Over his career, he actually has.
Parkey has made 83.9 percent of his field goals in five NFL seasons. There’s enough of a sample size to establish Parkey as a good kicker. It’s why the Bears signed him to a four-year, $15-million contract.
That’s better than Sebastian Janikowski’s 80 percent and below Robbie Gould’s 87.3 percent.
This was not a good season for Parkey, who made 23 of 30 field goals for 76.7 percent.
But it shouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker. It’s worth pointing out he made three field goals against the Eagles.
Why? Because the evidence suggests Parkey will rebound next season. If not in Chicago, then somewhere else.
As Ficken pointed out, proven kickers, particularly those in their prime, generally won’t have two bad seasons in a row.
If they do, finding work will be an issue.
Gould, the gold standard for field-goal kickers in Chicago, had two seasons below 80 percent. One came in 2005, when he made 77.8 percent and the other was in 2014 when he made just 9 of 12 for 75 percent.
“I think established kickers get the benefit of the doubt,” Ficken said.
Ficken, who just moved back to Valparaiso, is still trying to make it in the NFL.
He has been signed and then cut or waived by three NFL teams. He was on the Los Angels Rams roster for two games this season, but he was cut after he made just 1 of 3 field goals.
The truth is, while Parkey is no Gould, his credentials are good enough for him to return in 2019.
Anyone that suggests Parkey will be scarred for life because of that miss doesn’t understand the kicking game.
They get paid to endure the agony of those misses — to come back and try again.
It’s what they do.
“There is no one that feels worse than the kicker after a miss like that,” Ficken said. “It’s part of the job. It’s what you sign up to do. The highs are very high and the lows can be crappy.”