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After kicking a game-winning field goal to help the Baltimore Ravens overcome the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season, Justin Tucker was asked whether he enjoys being called upon to make such high-stakes kicks.
“My feelings don’t matter,” Tucker said. “What matters is seeing the ball snapped with 12 o’clock laces from Nick Moore, seeing the ball spotted cleanly from Jordan Stout, his first first career game-winning hold, and then from there I’m just a system kicker. The ball kicks itself at that point.”
Tucker is widely considered to be one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, and his post-game comments offered an insight into the mindset of an elite athlete at the top of his profession.
But do all kickers think the same way as Tucker? Does the ball really “kick itself”? Here, we speak to three veterans of football’s most uniquely pressured position to climb inside the mind of an NFL kicker.
John Carney (two-time All-Pro kicker, Super Bowl XLIV winner with the New Orleans Saints): I think he’s spot on. Athletes that have a repetitive motion – whether it’s pitching a baseball, kicking a football, punting a football, divers – they develop a process and, as Tucker says, a system. It’s a checklist and it’s a process that leads them to success.
At a high level of NFL kicking, each kicker will develop a process. Some have more boxes to check than others, but from the time they step on the on the field, mentally and physically, they’ll go through their process or system, as Justin Tucker mentioned, to get them to a successful kick.
Mike Hollis (1997 NFL scoring leader with the Jacksonville Jaguars, 1998 Pro Bowl select): Absolutely, 1,000%. I was not very athletic as a kid. I wasn’t the biggest, strongest, freakishly athletic kid by any means. I was the exact opposite.
So if I’m able to play at the highest level of football in the world for nine years, then what was it that made me able to play at that level? It was the technique and trusting that technique. That’s really what Justin Tucker is talking about.
It’s repetition of what he’s been doing, day in and day out, for however many years has been kicking a football. You’ve already made the kick before you’ve kicked it because you’re trusting that those mechanics are going to do the job.
I didn’t have a lot of continuity in my career and I truly believe I would have been a better kicker if I had. Justin Tucker’s snapper and holder were so good. It was automatic. Like Justin said: autopilot, the ball kicks itself. He never had to worry about a bad snap, a bad hold or anything. I had multiple holders and snappers throughout my career and that is a big, big deal.
Carney: It’s vital. The sub-unit of the field-goal team – snapper, holder, kicker – we have to be very, very familiar with the abilities and timing and style of those counterparts. I need to know the velocity that the snapper will snap the ball.
I need to be very familiar with how the holder catches, places the ball down. It takes a lot of reps between the three players to develop that relationship where I know without a shadow of a doubt what kind of snap I’m going to get and what type of hold we’re going to get……….
www.theguardian.com
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After kicking a game-winning field goal to help the Baltimore Ravens overcome the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season, Justin Tucker was asked whether he enjoys being called upon to make such high-stakes kicks.
“My feelings don’t matter,” Tucker said. “What matters is seeing the ball snapped with 12 o’clock laces from Nick Moore, seeing the ball spotted cleanly from Jordan Stout, his first first career game-winning hold, and then from there I’m just a system kicker. The ball kicks itself at that point.”
Tucker is widely considered to be one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, and his post-game comments offered an insight into the mindset of an elite athlete at the top of his profession.
But do all kickers think the same way as Tucker? Does the ball really “kick itself”? Here, we speak to three veterans of football’s most uniquely pressured position to climb inside the mind of an NFL kicker.
Can you relate to what Tucker said about being a “system kicker”?
Lawrence Tynes (two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants): No, none of it! And I played 13 years of pro football. Maybe that’s why he’s so good. He believes in his process so much more than anybody else. There’s no one like Justin Tucker. He is the best that’s ever done it. There’s no one even in his stratosphere. He’s the Tiger Woods of kicking.John Carney (two-time All-Pro kicker, Super Bowl XLIV winner with the New Orleans Saints): I think he’s spot on. Athletes that have a repetitive motion – whether it’s pitching a baseball, kicking a football, punting a football, divers – they develop a process and, as Tucker says, a system. It’s a checklist and it’s a process that leads them to success.
At a high level of NFL kicking, each kicker will develop a process. Some have more boxes to check than others, but from the time they step on the on the field, mentally and physically, they’ll go through their process or system, as Justin Tucker mentioned, to get them to a successful kick.
Mike Hollis (1997 NFL scoring leader with the Jacksonville Jaguars, 1998 Pro Bowl select): Absolutely, 1,000%. I was not very athletic as a kid. I wasn’t the biggest, strongest, freakishly athletic kid by any means. I was the exact opposite.
So if I’m able to play at the highest level of football in the world for nine years, then what was it that made me able to play at that level? It was the technique and trusting that technique. That’s really what Justin Tucker is talking about.
It’s repetition of what he’s been doing, day in and day out, for however many years has been kicking a football. You’ve already made the kick before you’ve kicked it because you’re trusting that those mechanics are going to do the job.
How important is the rapport between kicker, snapper and holder?
Tynes: It’s everything. You have to have personal relationships with those guys because there’s some intense moments and you want to go out there with people that you’re comfortable with.I didn’t have a lot of continuity in my career and I truly believe I would have been a better kicker if I had. Justin Tucker’s snapper and holder were so good. It was automatic. Like Justin said: autopilot, the ball kicks itself. He never had to worry about a bad snap, a bad hold or anything. I had multiple holders and snappers throughout my career and that is a big, big deal.
Carney: It’s vital. The sub-unit of the field-goal team – snapper, holder, kicker – we have to be very, very familiar with the abilities and timing and style of those counterparts. I need to know the velocity that the snapper will snap the ball.
I need to be very familiar with how the holder catches, places the ball down. It takes a lot of reps between the three players to develop that relationship where I know without a shadow of a doubt what kind of snap I’m going to get and what type of hold we’re going to get……….
‘The ball kicks itself’: inside the minds of NFL place-kickers
Does the ball really ‘kick itself’? Guardian US speaks to three veterans of football’s most uniquely pressured position to climb inside the mind of an NFL kicker
