Kicking under the lights
Chelsea High School senior Tyler Thomas vividly remembers what it felt like to save his team’s season.
In a Week 8 matchup against Pell City High School in 2015, the 5-foot-8 place-kicker converted a last-minute, 38-yard field goal to give his Hornets a pivotal 17-16 victory. The heroic kick secured Chelsea a spot in the playoffs.
“When I kicked that game-winner against Pell City, it was the best feeling ever,” Thomas said. “I didn’t even know what to do. I just like jumped into one of my lineman’s arms, and he held me up in the air. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had in my whole life.”
The mention of a missed field goal triggers an equally evocative memory.
Playing a position steeped in expectations, Thomas said every unsuccessful attempt carries its own sting.
“When I miss a kick, I can’t stand myself. I get so mad at myself,” he said. “It makes me feel bad about myself that I let my team down, my coaches, my friends and my family members.”
Such is the dichotomy of being a high-school kicker.
Vindicated in triumph and scarred by defeat, the kids who fill this overlooked position frequently labor in the shadows until they are needed most.
Then, the pressure is on.
Beckoned to take center stage under the Friday night lights, the collective weight — of a team, of a fan base, of a season — suddenly rests upon their shoulders.
But they would not have it any other way.
Feeling the pressure
Oak Mountain High School senior Nick Carney said the most pressure-packed moment of his career came on an onside kick late in a game.
The ball bounded off his foot perfectly, he said, before grazing over an opponent’s fingers and falling into his teammate’s hands.
“After that, everybody just went berserk on the sideline and in the stands,” Carney said.
Although the onside attempt has etched its place in his memory, Carney said that every kick is accompanied by its own dose of anxiety, especially field goals. Each time he splits the uprights, he said a sigh of relief races through his body.
“You definitely feel the pressure,” Carney said. “There’s always that one second when the ball is snapped, there’s always a millisecond of, ‘Am I going to miss this, or am I going to make this?’ But I just try to get that out of my mind as fast as I can and just let my leg do the work.”
To a kicker, confidence is everything. That’s why Thomas and Carney both stressed the importance of an unflappable mentality.
While Thomas said that place-kicking is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical, Carney said it was an even split.
Regardless, their answers reveal the existence of a game within a game — not between the sidelines, but between the kicker’s ears.
“You can be a great kicker, but if it’s in your brain that you’re going to go out there and miss it, you’re going to miss it nine times out of 10,” Thomas said.
That’s why Thomas, like Carney, employs a simple strategy to prevent the formation of a negative mindset. Both said that the most effective way to prepare for a kick is by limiting how much time they spend thinking about it.
“I just try to clear my mind,” Carney said.
There’s no time for reflection, either. No matter the outcome, Thomas said, you have to move on.
“It doesn’t matter if you made a 60-yarder or you missed a 10-yarder or an extra point. If you can’t have a short memory, I don’t feel like you’re going to be a successful kicker,” Thomas said.
It’s worth it
Even with the lofty expectations, high pressure and various mental barriers, Thomas and Carney reached a uniform verdict about their position: It’s worth it.
Forget the errant kickoffs and chunked field goals. At the end of the day, memories of triumph trump those of defeat.
“It’s just like in life. You have your high points and your low points. Your high points are the best parts, like when I made the game-winning kick against Pell City, it was the highest point ever,” Thomas said. “But a year before that, we were playing Pell City, and I lost us the game, but nobody really remembers that except a few people. They all just remember me sending us to the playoffs.”
Thomas and Carney will aim to further their impact this fall.
Playing in competitive regions, their respective success could mean the difference between postseason sensation and regular season deflation.
With a game on the line, you can bet they’ll be ready to go.
“I feel like it’s the best job ever,” Thomas said.
“It doesn’t matter if you made a 60-yarder or you missed a 10-yarder or an extra point. If you can’t have a short memory, I don’t feel like you’re going to be a successful kicker,” Thomas said.