One of the lone constants of a modern NFL marked by roster churn and and an endless push towards maximum efficiency finally came to an end today. Starting next season, fans will no longer be able to look at an Oakland Raiders roster and say, “Huh. Sebastian Janikowski’s still there, I guess.”
Kicker Robbie Gould’s 11-year tenure with the Bears came to an unceremonious end when the team released him a week before the 2016 season started. GM Ryan Pace believed that Connor Barth was better and more affordable than Gould, though Barth was cut last month for Cairo Santos. On Sunday, Gould, the Bears’ all-time…
Cowboys defensive back Jeff Heath, best known for almost decapitating a guy on the football field, was a kicker for Lake Orion High School (Mich.), and once hit a dramatic, game-winning 49-yard field goal. When Dan Bailey hurt his groin in Sunday’s game against the 49ers, Heath had to fill in.
Let’s phrase it as a riddle, to laugh to keep from crying. What wears red pajamas, has missed five of his last six field goals, and isn’t going to have a job this time next week? This guy:
Longtime Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski is gone for at least half of the season with a back injury and restructured contract. His injury gave Giorgio Tavecchio an opportunity in Oakland’s season opener against the Titans, and he was perfect in his debut.
Derrius Guice made Louisville kicker Blanton Creque regret every part of this tackle attempt.
The Dolphins and Bills brawled a bit late in today’s game in Buffalo, and it’s all Dan Carpenter’s fault—as the Bills kicker taunted the Miami returner after forcing him out of bounds, and havoc briefly reigned.
The 33-yard extra point has flummoxed nine NFL kickers today, for a total of 11 missed PATs. There hadn’t been more than 10 missed extra points in one week of games after the 1970 AFL-NFL merger since 1985.
I mean, if he can do 28 yards in dress shoes, I’m sure he can double that in cleats, why not?
There is no ever-loving deity. There is only Satan himself, handling the levers and pulleys that guide our lives, our limbs, our souls. Update:Â
As with all things Browns, failure is not enough by itself. It can never be simple. It must always be exquisite, and multipronged, and avoidable. The Cody Parkey saga, which saw Cleveland’s new kicker miss three field goals including a potential game-winner as time expired, is a great example.
Roberto Aguayo, the most accurate kicker in college football history, for whom the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded up to draft in the second round, is struggling in preseason and in practice. This is a real and interesting news story. It’s also one that I’ve felt unusual compunctions reading (and writing) about.
UCLA kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn got blown up while serving as the Bruins’ last chance to stop a Tim White kick return. But Arizona State didn’t take the kick to the house, because Fairbairn’s helmet brought White down. It’s Pac-12 after dark, at least on the east coast.
I wouldn’t wish the life of a kicker on anyone. For the most part, no one notices you until you fuck up. Oh hey: Josh Scobee.
For all the worried exegesis of the NFL’s corn-fed rulebook this offseason, not much of it was aimed at football’s best rule change in years: the new extra point.
This is William Will, the emphatically named kicker for Dayton, swooping in to recover a fumble and take it to the house for (we are going out on a giant limb here) his first career touchdown. He was named the FCS Pioneer League's special teams player of the week, because come the fuck on.
There has been much hay made about the supposed impending demise of the extra point try, with even Roger Goodell coming out in favor of eliminating the vestigial gimme from the game. But no one in a position of power had offered a viable alternative–until now.
Lost in all the fuss over Shermaggedon is that Russell Wilson, still a sophomore, has some enormous balls. While Colin Kaepernick fell apart in the fourth, Wilson stepped up, avoiding turnovers and tossing what would be the game-winner, a 35-yard strike to Jermaine Kearse. But it almost didn't happen, and Seattle can…
It's a morning to unreservedly celebrate Justin Tucker, because how often do we get the chance? How rarely is the kicker the one proudly jogging off the field with his helmet held high? Tucker—who appears to have wrestled the "Legatron" nickname away from Greg Zuerlein—accounted for all of the Ravens' points,…
