The job of a placekicker is one of the most vicarious positions in all of sports. A placekicker can become the hero with a game-winning kick, the villain, or the scapegoat with every critical, heart-throbbing kick. There is virtually no margin for error, and when the stakes are the highest, a kick inside or out of the goalposts can change the course of history.
This past weekend in the NFL, we saw the Shankapotimus effect on full display when Green Bay kicker Anders Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal that would have given his team a seven-point lead. Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal that would have tied the game for the Bills. Had either of those kicks gone through the uprights successfully, the outcome of those two games could’ve been dramatically different.
Is it fair to put all of the blame for the Packers and Bills losses on the lack of execution by Carlson and Bass? Well, yes and no. On the one hand, it’s worth noting that a football game is not won or lost on one play and that football is the ultimate team sport.
Even though the games come down to a kick, you win as a team and lose as a team for better or worse. Kickers are expected to kick an oblong-shaped piece of leather 150 feet through an opening that is only 18 feet, 6 inches wide. It is unrealistic to expect 100% accuracy for such a daunting task, and outside factors such as the elements, opposing teams, and crowd noise can add additional pressure to the situation.
On the other hand, making field goals is their job and what they get paid millions of dollars to do. They are not being asked to block, run, pass, catch, or tackle. They are only expected to make kicks within their range when called upon. If everyone else on the team is putting them in a position to be successful, why is it unreasonable to expect favorable results when their number gets called? Shouldn’t accountability should apply to everyone?
Most people are not sympathetic when a kicker misses a crucial field goal. It takes a forgiving heart and the maturest of perspectives to say, “You did your best pal, we’ll get ’em next time.” As opposed to, “I can’t believe that bleeping kicker just cost us the game.” Michael Jordan once said, “There’s no I in team but there is an I in win.” When it comes to this placekicker issue, I believe it is the responsibility of the kicker to make game-winning field goals, and when they miss, their obligation to live with the consequences. What side of the ledger are you on?
By Cleavon Steele
