By Billy Watkins / The Clarion Ledger
MADISON, Miss. -- Cindy Gostkowski is sitting in the football stands at Madison (Miss.) Central High School on a cool, breezy winter afternoon.
Even though she still resides in Madison, it is her first time at the stadium since her son - current New England Patriots and former University of Memphis placekicker Stephen Gostkowski - held the same position with the Jaguars from 1998 through 2001.
Yes, he kicked as a ninth-grader on the high school team.
"There were a lot of good memories here," she said, staring down at the field as the wind plays games with her dark brown hair.
She has brought along a few pieces of memorabilia for a photo shoot: The helmet Stephen wore in the 2009 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. His No. 3 white game jersey from the Pats' 35-7 victory over Tampa Bay at London's Wembley Stadium in 2009; his Pro Bowl jersey; and the first football he kicked professionally, in 2006 at Atlanta.
She hopes to add to the collection today when the Patriots battle the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Maybe the ball he drills through the uprights for the win. After all, the Patriots are 3-point favorites -- the margin of a field goal.
But she also knows Super Bowls can define kickers' careers in a negative way. Ask Scott Norwood, whose 47-yard field goal sailed wide right with eight seconds left in the game, leaving the Buffalo Bills one point shy of a win 21 years ago.
But she refuses to let her mind go there.
"I know it could come down to that," said Cindy, an operating room nurse at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, "but I really try not to dwell on it. I'm a glass-half-full kind of person, and I always think Stephen is going to make it.
"And I sort of already know what it's like when it doesn't work out. My parents came down for a game Stephen's senior year of high school. It was the first time they had ever seen him kick in a game because they live just outside Buffalo. It was a really big deal for our family. Well, Stephen missed three field goals that night, and he was really upset afterward."
And his mom?
"I was upset, too," she said. "But, you know, we must go on with our lives, don't we? That's sort of my attitude ... get on with things."
Stephen's older brother, Jeremy, admits he has thought about a scenario where the outcome of America's premier sporting event rides on Stephen's ability to kick a football between two posts 18 feet, 10 inches apart.
"I've played sports with him since we were kids, and I know what he's made of," he said. "He doesn't look at the pressure of a kick the same way you or I would, simply because he's been doing it for so long."
At 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, Stephen is not your average NFL kicker, which is to say he has never uttered the words -- seriously, at least -- "I keek a touchdown." That was the stereotype circulating through the NFL for many years when teams brought in scrawny kickers who had excelled at soccer in foreign countries but knew as much about football as they did the inner workings of the International Space Station.
In his six-year NFL career, Gostkowski has made an astonishing 87 percent of his field goal attempts for a team that plays more than half its games every year outdoors in cold-weather cities. His precision earned him a four-year, $17.5 million contract at the beginning of this season.
His natural ability can be traced to his dad, Larry, who was an outstanding high school athlete in upstate New York and later coached his sons in youth sports.
"And Stephen is a pure athlete, through and through," Jeremy said.
Others agree.
"I was his holder for two years at Madison Central," said Bo Bradberry, an assistant football coach at Gulfport High, "and the most impressive thing to me was his coordination and athleticism. It didn't matter how I put the ball down the kick always seemed to come off of his foot true."
"He could have been a great free safety or wide receiver for us if he had wanted to do anything other than kick," said Mike Justice, Gostkowski's coach at Madison Central and now the head coach at Gulfport.
He earned All-State honors in football, soccer and baseball at Madison Central. In his career as a pitcher, he was 16-2 with a 1.00 ERA. Gostkowski also went on to pitch at the University of Memphis, logging four season as a Tigers reliever.
And the strength of his leg is legendary.
"The ball just sounds different coming off his foot, the same way a golf ball sounds when Tiger Woods hits it," said Justice. "I remember the day (assistant coach) Todd Walker walked into my office and said, 'Coach, you've got to come watch this ninth-grade kicker ... all of his kickoffs land six yards deep in the end zone. I didn't really know Stephen at the time, but I went out and watched him the next day. We didn't hesitate. We moved him right up to the varsity, and many times he'd put kickoffs through the uprights."
Said Jeremy: "I believe he could have been the best at whatever sport he chose. If he wasn't kicking in the Super Bowl, I think he could've wound up pitching in a World Series or playing in a (soccer) World Cup."
And those who know Gostkowski, rave about his mental toughness.
"I think about a game we had against Clinton his junior year," Justice said. "We made a big comeback, and it was 31-31 in the fourth quarter. Stephen made two field goals late to seal that game, and both kicks were over 40 yards. Pressure is pressure, I don't care what level you're playing on."
"I know this," Jeremy said. "No matter what game we're playing -- throwing darts, shooting pool, bowling -- he's usually good at it right away and can't stand to lose. And if he's not good at it right away, it won't be long before he is."
That mental toughness was invaluable when he was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft and asked to replace Adam Vinatieri, possibly the greatest clutch kicker in the history of the league.
"We lived in Amherst, N.Y., the first eight years of Stephen's life, and in our neighborhood we had about 10 kids," Cindy said. "Their ages ranged from high school all the way down to Stephen, who was always the youngest. And the older kids cut him no slack. They played football, soccer, hockey. I really think playing against those older kids helped make him tough."
Stephen was a member of the Patriots' Super Bowl team that was upset by the Giants 17-14 in 2008. He made both extra-point attempts, but never got the chance at a field goal.
"Maybe this year," Cindy said. "I'll say a little prayer and keep the faith."
And also think back to a game Stephen's sophomore year against Ole Miss in Memphis. Final score: Tigers 44, Rebels 34. Stephen booted three field goals in the fourth quarter.
The opposing quarterback that day? Giants star Eli Manning.
"One thing I have promised myself is that I'm going to enjoy this one," she said. "Last time it was all sort of surreal, and I was really anxious. This time, I'm going to breathe and take it all in. I never saw myself in this position, with a son on such a big stage. Why not enjoy it?"
