Found this while reading my fantasy football news:
(all times Eastern)
Commanders rookie kicker faces Monday night pressure
(9/16/05 9:35 PM EST)
ASHBURN, Va. -- Four young, out-of-work kickers were summoned to the practice field Tuesday for a one-shot, high-pressure audition. At stake: a spot on the Washington Commanders roster.
"Whoever does the best, they tell you to stay -- and tell the other guys to go home," Nick Novak said. "It's pretty cutthroat."
Novak aced the test. He attempted 10 field goals and made them all, the only one with a perfect score. The Commanders, needing a kicker because of an injury to John Hall, signed him on the spot and expect him to make his NFL debut on one of the biggest stages imaginable -- Monday night at Dallas against the NFC East rival Cowboys.
"I'm a competitor. I want to be a kicker who can handle the pressure. A lot of people may think I should be nervous right now," Novak said. "I'm really not. I'm more excited for the opportunity to play for the Commanders. It's always been a dream of mine."
True to his word, Novak has been the picture of calm all week. He answered questions in front of his locker as if he'd been doing it his whole life, as if a keg of dynamite could explode behind his back and not faze him.
"He's very mellow," said punter Andy Groom, who is also Novak's holder.
Hall strained a leg muscle Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears and hasn't practiced all week. Coach Joe Gibbs said "I can't see that happening" when asked Friday if Hall could play Monday.
Novak could be the difference in a Cowboys-Commanders series in which seven of the last eight meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less, but local fans already know he can come through in the clutch. He went to high school in Virginia, kicked four years at the University of Maryland and is the ACC's all-time leading scorer. He kicked in three games with the Chicago Bears and one with the Dallas Cowboys this preseason, but both teams went with veterans.
"I've been in a lot of big games in college," Novak said, "Thursday night games against big teams like Florida State. I've done well. I've risen to the occasion."
If he plays well, Novak could be the kicker who finally stops the Commanders' revolving door. The team has had 15 kickers since 1997. Only twice in the last eight years has one kicker made it through the entire season. Hall was supposed to be the answer when he signed a big contract as a free agent two years ago, but he's had five injuries since the start of last season.
"It's probably the most frustrating thing I've had to deal with football-wise," Hall said. "Being a guy who's never missed a game or been hurt or in the training room -- and all of a sudden I can't stay out of there."
The Commanders are in transition in several special teams positions. Groom has only one game of NFL experience, having won the job after incumbent Tom Tupa was injured during training camp. Return man Antonio Brown was cut after fumbling a kickoff in Sunday's game, leaving Ladell Betts and James Thrash to handle kickoffs and Betts and Santana Moss to field punts.
"It's been pretty traumatic," Gibbs said. "I thought we were kind of set there in a lot of ways. It just goes to show in the NFL you're never sure."
http://www.fantasyinsights.com/fantasy/iistory.asp?id=75730
