Will Billy Cundiff Ever Live This Down?

"Billy Cundiff will never live this down", was one of the common themes on most sports show on Monday, one day after his 32-yard missed field goal in the final seconds of the AFC championship game. If they only knew Billy as well as I do, I don't think that they would jump to this conclusion so quickly.

Billy gets paid millions of dollars to kick a football. That is all he has to do. How can he miss? I know, it sucks that he is not perfect because he gets paid a lot of money for his skill. But does this reasoning make sense for any other job? If you are getting paid well to do one job, are you not allowed to make a mistake?

Before I tell you more about Billy, there are few misconceptions about NFL kickers that I need to clear up. In order to keep this blog entry to under 100 pages, I will not talk about the tremendous amount of skills, training, genetics, and luck that it takes to make it to the NFL. I am just going to focus on general nature of the process that is becoming an NFL kicker.

For some reason, most people think that kicking a football is easy. While I agree that you can teach a 10-year old with soccer background to kick an extra point, kicking at the NFL level is quite difficult. It is a very very good job. It is not very physically demanding. You get paid a lot of money. You have a lot of free time. It is just lovely. But, it is not an easy job to get....or keep.

There are only 32 job openings in the world! Can you think of any other profession that pays greatly for being one of the top 32 in the world, but pays NOTHING for being 33rd best. Can you imagine the risks you take and odds that you face when you choose to pursue a profession with this pay arrangement ? How about added pressure that you face if you have to provide for people other than yourself ?

On average, about 2 college kickers will break into the NFL every year. Some years, there will be more than two - some years less. Contrary to what Disney movies may have you believe, ex-soccer players or mules (1976 movie "Gus") without college kicking experience, have 0% chance of making it to the NFL. Top NFL kickers have somewhat of a job security. But the remaining 80% have to compete to keep their job every year. It is not a lot of fun doing your job really well and then having your boss bring in a temp, every year, and tell you, "You are doing great. Don't worry about Michael here. We just want to see how well he can do your job."

Back to Billy. Before considering whether he will bounce back from this latest setback, consider what he went through to get to this point...

- did not get a kicking scholarship out of high school
- attended Drake University - non-scholarship small school
- did not get drafted after his college career ended
- was told by Indianapolis Colts that his leg was not strong enough for the NFL
- as an undrafted free agent, he won kicking job for the Dallas Cowboys
- played 5 seasons in the NFL during which he was cut by Cowboys, Packers, Buccaneers, Saints (I think that is all of them)
- Spent two years completely out of the NFL - working for a venture capital firm, raising his daughter, and training on his own.
- Reinvented his swing, clawed his way back into the NFL and finished the season for Ravens in 2009.
- in 2010 training camp, he competed against one of the all-time most accurate NFL kickers, Shayne Graham, and beat him out to win his own job with the Ravens.
- Made PRO BOWL and set the ALL-TIME NFL record for most kickoff touchbacks in a season.
- Missed a 32 yard FG in the AFC championship game....

I think you get the point. You've seen the posters and you've heard the cliches - "Never give up!", "It is not about how many times you get knocked down, it is about how many times you get up.", "Set your goals high and don't stop till you get there",etc.

In addition to being a great human being, father, husband, and a friend, Billy is one tough mother f*#ker who refuses to give up or lose confidence in himself when he faces a setback. He is the guy who personifies those sports cliches that we have been hearing our whole lives. Anyone who met him can attest to his humble nature and his relentless pursuit of perfection.

I hope you all stay tuned in. Because this story will not end with a missed 32-yard field goal......


Filip Filipovic
TheKickingCoach.com

The Kicking Coach Staff member will play in the Superbowl !

When New England Patriots face Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship on Sunday, January 22nd, two members of The Kicking Coach Staff will face each other. Neither New England Patriots' punter Zoltan Mesko or Baltimore Ravens' kicker Billy Cundiff have ever played in a Superbowl. It looks like that will not be the case after this week.

Both Billy and Zoltan are featured in this promotional video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6E3rf2kYnY&feature=related

Check it out.

Filip Filipovic
TheKickingCoach.com