Standout kicker dreams big, works hard
By Sebastian Moraga / Snovalleystar.com
So the snowstorm had a plus side to it, after all.
At least it did for Cameron Vanwinkle.
The power outages kept the Mount Si High School (Wash.) junior and record-breaking kicker from watching one of his heroes stumble on national television.
As part of his education as a kicker, Vanwinkle has attended kicking camps directed by Billy Cundiff.
Cundiff, the Baltimore Ravens kicker, missed a 32-yard kick Jan. 22 that kept his team from advancing to the Super Bowl.
“I was a little surprised,” he said of hearing about Cundiff’s mishap. “The pressure must have gotten to him.”
The student of the game, and of kicking in particular, has other hypotheses as to what might have happened.
“If it’s a bad hold and you hit the laces,” he said, “it is a guaranteed miss. My dad and I watch kicks and if the kicker misses, we look to see if it’s a good hold.”
Such attention to detail — that and a powerful foot that belies his 165-pound frame — have several Division I universities eyeing Vanwinkle as a possible recruit.
Oregon, Missouri, Washington, and this week Tennessee, have approached Vanwinkle, who broke a handful of school records last year.
Much like his hero from Crab Town, Md., Vanwinkle feels the pressure.
“I’m a little nervous,” he said, “I’m trying to help my parents out.”
He said he hopes to get a full ride to a Division I university and save his folks some money. Then, he said he hopes to make it to the National Football League, something that stood just above impossible the first time he played high school football his freshman year.
“I just wanted to try a new sport out,” he said, “make new friends. Soccer was my sport before.”
Vanwinkle’s football coach Charlie Kinnune said he had already turned some heads as a middle schooler.
“I was told, when he was a seventh- or eighth-grader,” Kinnune said, “that we had this kid coming up.”
The “kid” took over kicking duties his freshman year and had to earn the trust of his teammates slowly.
Those same teammates nowadays call him or his kicks “Money” for Vanwinkle’s almost-guaranteed accuracy.
Kinnune said he has never had a kicker recruited at this high level.
“I’m just sitting back, going, ‘Someone’s going to get themselves a really good kicker,’” Kinnune said.
Although conscious that college is still a year away, Vanwinkle works toward preparing himself for the college game.
In college, kickoffs happen at the 30-yard line, which will require a 70-yard kick to get to the goal line.
“Right now, I’m guessing, I’m averaging 63 or 64 yards on kickoffs,” Vanwinkle said.
Kinnune said college kickers tend to be about 30 pounds heavier than Vanwinkle.
“He’s got to get heavier, stronger,” he said. “He’s got to gain weight.”
Other things, he can’t prepare for in a weight room.
“In high school, you look to the side and see fans,” Vanwinkle said. “In college, there’s going to be fans everywhere you look.”
Vanwinkle has not decided yet which college those fans will root for or what he will major in, but he said he is done with year-round rain.
“I’d like to go somewhere warm,” he said.
Ultimately, the decision will come down to whoever helps his parents pay for college the most. If it’s warm there, all the better.
If after four years, the NFL comes calling, better still.
“He’s got a bright future,” Kinnune said. “He’s a great decision-maker on and off the field.”
A couple of years in the league might help set him up financially for a long time, Vanwinkle said.
Nevertheless, he said, it’s not about the money for him. It’s about rubber on leather and leather taking flight, be it round or oval-shaped.
“Even before I kicked the football, I just loved kickball,” he said. “I have always loved kicking a ball.”
Life of kicker not always easy
By Peter Lefko / Sportsnet.ca
A kicker's life can sometimes be measured by success or failure on one particular play, as Sunday's NFC and AFC championship games clearly illustrated.
Lawrence Tynes of the New York Giants nails a 31-yard field goal to help his team beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime to win the NFC game and he's interviewed after the game. Earlier in the day, Baltimore's Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have sent the game into overtime in the Ravens' 23-20 loss to New England in the AFC game. He was not interviewed immediately afterward, although later in the locker room he shouldered the blame for the missed boot.
Two extreme plays, one in which one kicker is hailed as a hero, while the other is labeled a goat.
"Everyone says it's the ultimate team sport. Well if it's a team sport, why is everyone pointing the finger on one player and one play?" B.C. Lions kicker Paul McCallum told sportsnet.ca. "I just get fed up when anyone wants to point the finger. Sure, the kicker may make mistakes, but it just baffles me that in a team game you point the finger of blame on one person when you've got how many plays in a football game?"
McCallum has experienced the highs and lows of kicking, a profession that is not physical but more mental and emotional. The kicker may be on the field for only a few seconds, but they are precious and can influence a win or a defeat. Some football players will denounce kickers because of their limited role, but that's their job.
No sooner had Cundiff missed the field goal and the Twitter world was full of snide remarks about Mike Vanderjagt, Scott Norwood and McCallum, three kickers who have known joy and disappointment in their job. Norwood missed a 47-yard attempt at the end of the game that would have given the Buffalo Bills the win over the New York Giants in the 1991 Super Bowl. He would cruelly be referred to as "Wide Right," his value leading up to that point diminished forevermore. Vanderjagt set an NFL record one year with the Indianapolis Colts, becoming the first kicker to go through an entire season without missing a field goal or point-after try. But some people - certainly those in the Twitter world - were recalling his missed 46-yard field goal that cost the Colts a chance to send the game into overtime in a 2005 playoff game against Pittsburgh. For all Vanderjagt had done to that point, it was that miss people chose to remember.
In the 2006 Grey Cup, McCallum successfully kicked all six field-goal attempts in the B.C. Lions' 25-14 victory over the Montreal Alouettes and was later voted the Most Outstanding Canadian player of the game. But McCallum is also known for missing an 18-yard field goal in overtime in the Saskatchewan Roughriders' 2004 West Division Final loss to B.C. He had eggs thrown at his home, manure dumped on a next-door neighbor's driveway and his family received some death threats.
And following Cundiff's miss, McCallum took to his Twitter account, offended that some people were blaming Cundiff instead of looking at it as a team game and a team loss. In McCallum's mind, the kicker wasn't the sole reason the Ravens lost, noting the dropped ball in the end zone on the same series by receiver Lee Evans.
"I'm not saying he shouldn't have made it, he should have," McCallum said. "He made a mistake and missed it, just like the receiver dropped the ball in the end zone."
When asked what advice he would give to Cundiff, McCallum said: "You've made kicks before, it's just unfortunate you missed in a situation like that. You just have to think to yourself you're better than that and don't let the outside distractions and negative people get to you. Just do what you've been doing, keep your head up and keep kicking."
McCallum also had some interesting thoughts about Tynes, a player he knew from his days in the CFL with the Ottawa Renegades.
"For me, Lawrence Tynes didn't win that game himself. He did his job and helped his team win," McCallum said. "The offensive lineman blocked for (quarterback) Eli Manning to pass the ball, everyone did their job. If those guys don't do those things, Lawrence doesn't have an opportunity to kick the field goal. For people to say Lawrence won the game is a little narrow-minded."
When asked how long the missed kick stayed with him, McCallum replied with a laugh: "We're talking about it, aren't we? It's just how you deal with it. I've made so many kicks since then, but (people) still talk about it.
"People are twittering about me right now. I just keep on going. One mistake is not going to define career, so if people want to talk about it, go ahead, but I've done a lot since then."
Cundiff getting his kicks for Ravens
OWINGS MILLS - Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff needed an amateur groundskeeper to tend to the rough terrain at Heinz Field.
So, holder Sam Koch smoothed the dirt over with his cleats while Cundiff prepared for each kick.
The strategy was an effective one as Cundiff split the uprights on a 51-yard field goal as the clock expired in the first half to stake the Ravens to a three-point lead at halftime during a 23-20 victory Sunday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
By doing so, Cundiff joined some exclusive company. He became one of only three kickers to connect on a field goal over 50 yards since the opening of Heinz Field along with former Steelers kicker Jeff Reed and former San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney.
Cundiff's field goal is the second-longest ever at Heinz Field behind Reed's 52-yarder from last year.
"It's a testament to how bad the field is, that's all that is," Cundiff said with a smile Wednesday in the Ravens' locker room. "They play a lot of high school games there. They re-sodded it, played the Patriots and then a high school game and then a college game and our game. That's four games in about seven days."
Cundiff wound up hitting three of four field goals Sunday, rebounding from a missed 40-yard try in the first quarter that would have boosted the Ravens' lead to six points. He converted kicks from 18, 43 and 51 yards.
"If you look at the first kick I missed, I slipped out on my first step," Cundiff said. "Right away, I gave the turf too much credit. The way it was in pregame wound up being different once we started playing on it. Sam and I started lining it up early.
"He would get the plant spot and really pat it down with his cleats, and I would get ready for the path of the ball and get that down. That way, I know if I get my steps, I can get a good strike on it. I missed that field goal, but I was able to respond."
Without Cundiff's clutch field goals in a narrow game, the Ravens probably don't beat the defending AFC champions.
Cundiff provided all nine of the Ravens' points in the first half after running back Ray Rice's 76-yard touchdown run was nullified by a questionable holding penalty on rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith.
"I think the one at the end of the half was probably the biggest one," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday. "That was huge for us because it was a 51-yarder, and I think there's only been four 50-plus yarders kicked there in history at Heinz Field.
"That shows you how tough it is. The footing was really tough. The first kick, I think his drive foot slipped a little bit and that contributed to the push. But that was obviously huge."
With the exception of Cundiff's errant 40-yarder at Pittsburgh, all of his misses this season have been from beyond 50 yards. That includes misses from 52 and two from 51 during games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the St. Louis Rams.
The 52-yarder in Jacksonville was way off, but Cundiff made the game-winner from 25 yards out the following week against the Arizona Cardinals.
"For me, it's just doing in a game what I do in practice on a consistent basis," Cundiff said. "I feel I've practiced well this year from 50-plus. It's just taking advantage of it in a game. In the game in Jacksonville, it was a tough situation. Stepping on the field, I wasn't in a good rhythm. That's not an excuse."
All of Cundiff's misses have been wide right this year, leading to various theories around town about what's been going on with his mechanics during an otherwise strong season.
"Each kick has been a little bit different," Cundiff said. "Even though they've all been right, they've all been completely different things. I want to take that momentum from that made kick and move forward and start showing what I can do."
Cundiff made the Pro Bowl last season for the first time and was rewarded with a five-year, $14.7 million contract that included a $3 million signing bonus.
He tied a franchise record shared by himself and Matt Stover with five field goals in a 29-14 win over the Houston Texans earlier this season, establishing a new Ravens record with seven touchbacks out of eight kickoffs.
Midway through the season, Cundiff has made 20 of 24 field goals for an 83.3 percent success rate after going 26-for-29 last season for an 89.7 percentage. He also set a franchise record with 40 touchbacks to tie Mitch Berger's NFL record from 1998.
Now, Cundiff's currently on pace to finish the year with 40 field goals. He has already scored 80 of the Ravens' 208 points this season.
"I'm one miss off my pace from last year, and, in my opinion, I've had much tougher kicks," Cundiff said. "Each situation is different. Some guys you examine when and where they made their field goals.
"I would like to have a few misses back from 50-plus, but I feel like I'm well-prepared and ready for the second half of the season."
Cundiff finds stride, waits for lockout to end
By SEAN KEELER / Des Moines Register
Lots of people get their 15 minutes; Billy Cundiff's time under the slow burn of spotlight is well past an hour now. And the meter's still running.
Just before the richest professional sports league in the land decided it'd be a neat idea to slit its own throat, the Harlan native signed his 15th different NFL contract. Most rational people would have given up at eight or nine and gotten the heck on with the rest of their lives.
"It's actually been more interesting than I thought it was going to be," the Baltimore Ravens kicker and Drake alum says. "To go to see so many different places and have so many different things happen in my life, it truly has been an interesting journey."
Three years ago, Cundiff was working at a venture capital firm, putting the finishing touches on his MBA, turning the page. Today, he's a 31-year-old Pro Bowler with a five-year, $15 million deal in Crab City. It's a poor man's version of the Kurt Warner story: Iowa kid, small college, out-of-nowhere glory, a sudden fade, then a blazing comeback.
Of course, no sooner does the guy get his football career back on track then NFL owners decide to lock their players out and kick the golden goose where the sun don't shine.
"That is spectacular timing," says Cundiff, one of the keynote speakers at Character Counts in Iowa's "Exercise Your Character" rally Tuesday afternoon at Hy-Vee Hall.
"My wife and I haven't lost perspective - we think it's humorous that when we finally get some stability, there's a lockout. Of all the people in the NFL right now, my wife and I are among the few people that are used to the stress and the instability."
In the NFL, kickers are as disposable as alkaline batteries. In September 2003, Cundiff kicked a then-record seven field goals on Monday Night Fooball as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. In 2005, he was waived.
Cups of coffee followed with — deep breath — Tampa Bay, Green Bay, New Orleans, Atlanta, Kansas City, Detroit and Cleveland between 2006 and 2009. Some journey.
But here's the cool part: At stop No. 9 — the Ravens — something clicked. Always blessed with a howitzer for a right leg, Cundiff found that kicking the ball at a slightly higher point off the tee gave him more power and consistency.
"Just like a golfer, if you bring down trajectory, you generally add distance," he says.
The rest is history. After a trial run late in the 2009 season — Baltimore had signed Cundiff in November after he'd been cut by the Browns — coach John Harbaugh challenged him to produce more touchbacks on his kickoffs. Cundiff went out and tied an NFL single-season record for touchbacks from the 30-yard line (40). He also nailed 89.7 percent of his field-goal attempts, a stat that punched his first-ever ticket to the Pro Bowl.
Again, some journey.
"I've just turned 31," Cundiff says, "but everyone on my team thinks I'm 26 because I look so young."
He felt even younger in March, when NFL voted to move kickoffs to the 35-yard-line from the 30. There's a new carrot dangling in front of the former Bulldog: 46 touchbacks from the 35, a mark set by Detroit's Jason Hanson in 1993.
"I was thinking they were going to move it back," Cundiff says, chuckling like a man on the make.
Don't bet against him. After all, you know what they say: The fifteenth time's the charm.
