If you turn on the TV today you are going to see how two team's made it to the Super Bowl by other team's making special team errors. Kyle Williams for the 49er's messed up twice on returns, and the shank heard around the world Bill Cundiff wide left. Just in case you are secluded and do not have a t.v., Twitter, or Facebook, check out this link to see the kick.
I keep asking myself is the life of a kicker worth it? I mean think about it. You saw Lawrence Tynes for the Giants make a game winning field goal and he was cool for about what, 2 minutes? Do you ever see a kicker get player of the game or MVP? Even when a kicker makes a game winning field goal or a tough 50+ yard field goal they get a oh nice kick or that a boy. Maybe they jump up and down around him for 30 seconds. Their importance and skill set is undervalued in a tough and rugged game I believe. You rarely even hear them mentioned in the press conference after winning a game. But when you miss a kick you "should" make, boy does the world turn on you.
When I say life of a kicker I do not mean a punter. It is important to have a good punter don't get me wrong, but even when a punter makes a mistake (Google Matt Dodge) it's not even comparable. They make Sportscenter a couple of times and some people get angry but it's easily forgotten. When a kicker makes a mistake, especially a playoff mistake it will live on forever. The bigger the game clearly bigger the miss and bigger the hate. So should we feel bad for these guys when they miss a big kick? Is the life of being a kicker even worth it?
The average salary of a Punter/Kicker in the NFL is around $868,000. Billy Cundiff makes around $3 million dollars a year. (Contract is 5 years/14.7 million) He played 15 games this year (missed one with a calf injury) and made 28 of 37 field goals. Longest was 51. He was 38-38 for extra points. So if you base his salary off of how many times he kicked the ball for points he makes roughly $40,000 a kick. Should we honestly feel bad for a guy that makes $40,000 every time he tires a field goal or extra point because he missed one? Should we hate on a man for missing the kick at all regardless of what he makes?
Clearly I have never been in his shoes or any other kicker's shoes and will never be in their shoes. I would like to think though if I was making almost $3 million dollars a year kicking a football I would be able to turn off the t.v., the cell phone, change my mailing address and get away for a bit, and get over the fact I cost my team a chance at a Super Bowl. Especially knowing that if Lee Evans catches the ball (Click HERE to see drop) they take the lead and Cundiff doesn't have to miss a kick. Not saying Cundiff won't get over it i'm sure he will, but is it worth going through it?
I mean how often do you see kickers in movies, or TV shows, or even commercials? How many kids at home buy kicker Fat Heads? How many people rock a kicker's jersey on game day? I bet the only time someone buys a kickers jersey (if they even make them) is to give to someone as a gag gift.
I live in Northern NY. Just about everyone up here is either a New York Giants or Buffalo Bills fan. So every Buffalo Bills fan clearly remember missing kicks. DO NOT WATCH FOLLOWING LINK IF YOU ARE A BILLS FAN. You have been warned. I mean they are blaming their good season turned ugly because they had Scott Norwood day at the Ralph. It's still his fault.
Well just as Lee Evan's dropped the potential game winning pass it immediately turned into a oh sorry about that Baltimore fan's Lee Evans brought brought that curse to you from Buffalo. As Cundiff was kicking the ball a certain Bills loving friend of mine yelled Scott Norwood which apparently caused Cundiff to miss. This just shows you how the life of a kicker and the legacy of a missed kick can live on forever. Imagine being Norwood every time a kick is missed your clip is blasted all over the world again.
The life of a kicker, is it something you would want? Is making that kind of money worth the risk of being a Scott Norwood or Billy Cundiff?
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