The position, of course, is placekicker. In a league with absolutely no job security, the placekicker has the absolute least. Other players' jobs may be in jeopardy after a pattern of deteriorating performance over several weeks, at the worst, after a really bad game. A placekicker can go from hero to goat, and from employed to unemployed, in a few seconds on one play.
This past Sunday, Garrett Hartley of the New Orleans Saints may have experienced the bottom of a placekicker's roller coaster ride. Hartley, as many recall, was a hero in the Saints 2009 season playoff run, en route to a Super Bowl XLIV Championship. Hartley was 5 for 5 in the playoffs, including the game winning field goal in overtime that sent the Saints to their first super Bowl ever. Hartley would go on, two weeks later to set a Super Bowl record for most field goals over 40 yards made in the game. 1
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| Hero |
Oh what a difference a season makes. Three weeks into the 2010 season, Hartley has missed three kicks, two of which were under 35 yards, a chip shot in the NFL by any reasonable measure, in my opinion. The latest underachievement being a badly hooked 29 yard field goal attempt in overtime against the division rival Atlanta Falcons, which would have given the Saints sole possession of first place in the NFC South. 2
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| Goat |
Hartley's job is now in jeopardy. According to multiple media reports, the Saints brought in several kickers to work out this week, including long time Saints kicker and 22 year NFL veteran (46 year old) John Carney. Carney signed with the team on Tuesday. Whether or not the Saints will continue to keep Hartley on the roster, in addition to a new kicker (utilized, perhaps, for shorter field goals and point after touchdown attempts), in the long term is unknown. But one thing is clear, to me. He may be unknown. He may not be a "real" football player. He may get the least glamor and glory of any player on an NFL roster. But for the few plays he is actually in the game, be it 2 plays, 5 plays or 10 plays, the kicker is the most important person on the field.
How is a scrawny, undersized, barely any facemask having, hardly ever coming into contact with an opponent KICKER ever the most important ANYTHING? Because when the kicker is on the field, he steers the outcome of the game. Such was the case yesterday in New Orleans. I believe it is safe to say that most observers of that game, regardless of rooting interest, would agree that the Falcons outplayed the Saints in regulation. Yet, in spite of the Falcons victory-worthy effort on the road and the Saints worst performance of the 2010 season, Hartley and Hartley alone (assuming a properly executed snap and placement) could undo all of Atlanta's good work and redeem his team of its many faults, during the game, with one swing of his leg.
Of course Hartley missed. The Falcons regrouped. They marched down the field on a time consuming drive, and veteran kicker Matt Bryant drilled a not-so-automatic 45 yard field goal to give his team the huge victory. 3
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| John Carney is: The Cleanup Man |
This is simply one example, among many, on one team of the invaluable services a consistent placekicker can offer a football team. The Saints were also the longtime team of Morten Andersen, the all time leading scorer in NFL history. Andersen made countless kicks to give the Saints the lead, often in the final two minutes of a game. One or two game winning kicks in a season can potentially make the difference between making or missing the playoffs, winning or losing a division, or securing the coveted home field advantage in the playoffs. 4
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| Morten "Mr. Automatic" Andersen, 2009 saints Hall of Fame inductee |
The Saints have to observe and evaluate its most frequent scoring position very carefully in the coming weeks. The team won the Super Bowl, in part, due to clutch placekicking in the 2009 playoffs. A truly dominant team should not be in a position to have a game rely on making or missing a kick.
In the NFL however, there is little opportunity for dominance among the best of the best players alive. Professional football is a game decided by inches, not feet. When the margin is extremely close, as it often is (especially in playoff games involving two of the league's better teams) and the lead hinges on a field goal attempt, there is no more single important player on the field than the man who will succeed or fail to put the points on the board.
1) Image from http://halfmanhalfdog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/garrett-hartley.jpg
2) Image from atlantafalcons.com
3) Image from nola.com
4) Image from nola.com
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