Coach McGaughey Weighs in on Kicking

How does a 44-year-old kicker kick so well? For some answers, I called Thomas McGaughey, the Giants’ assistant special teams coach. T-Mac, as he is known, held the same job with the Broncos when I was with the team in training camp in 2006. He’s a 35-year-old former safety who played in N.F.L. Europe but never made an N.F.L. active roster. Unlike other special-teams coaches who view the job as an entry-level position on an NFL staff, T-Mac has strived to understand the intricacies and mysteries of kicking; he wants to coach the kickers and punters, not just watch them go about their business. (T-Mac even took my own kicking exploits seriously. When I missed, which was often, he schooled me for the next kick. When I made the occasional 40-yarder, he offered praise and a fist bump.)
More to the point here, T-Mac has worked with a string of veteran kickers: Carney now, Elam in Denver and a then-42-year-old Morten Andersen in Kansas City (Andersen kicked last year at 47). So he understands what makes older kickers tick—and what makes them different from younger ones. Kickers who manage to stay in the league a long time, T-Mac observed, are meticulous about their physical preparation, because they know their legs don’t perform the way they did 10 or 20 years ago. Laugh at kickers for their comparatively painless workouts — and their teammates do — but they know precisely what they have to do to stay healthy, and they don’t deviate from the routine. “The most distinguishing characteristic about all of them is the attention to detail,” T-Mac said. “It’s the daily routine, going over small things that the average person wouldn’t think about.”
During the season, Carney times his routine to the minute based on the practice schedule, T-Mac told me. He jogs forward and backward, stretches, swings his kicking leg. He takes eight kicks with his snapper and holder before practice formally begins. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Carney kicks four or five balls during field-goal practice with the team. That’s it. He doesn’t take extra kicks for fun, and he doesn’t practice kickoffs at all. “Once the season starts, it’s all about maintenance,” T-Mac said, “staying fresh and being able to hit the ball hard when you need to hit it.”
The difference between a veteran kicker like Carney and a younger kicker like Tynes is especially clear in their approach to problems, T-Mac said. “Lawrence likes to kick through certain situations,” he said. “If the ball flight isn’t going the way he wants it to go, he goes through it physically. Then he feels better.” In other words, Tynes will kick and kick some more until the problem is corrected. Carney, because of his age, physically can’t risk taking extra kicks to fix something and, because of his experience, mentally doesn’t need to. “A guy like Carney knows that his foot is too deep, his toes are turned to side, he’s leaning too far back,” T-Mac said. “He can make the correction on the spot and, bam, there it is. That’s the difference between a guy with four years’ experience and a guy with 20 years’ experience.”
“It’s unconscious competence,” he added, using a felicitous psychological term. “You’ve done it so many times before in the past that it becomes a part of who you are. It’s like waking up in the morning and blinking your eyes. You know it.”
For kickers, the only way to know it is to live it. That’s why it can take kickers years to break into the league, why there’s some 25-year-old who’s been cut a couple of times, who’s kicking in the arena league or Canada, who will make the league eventually and stay until his hair turns gray. Kickers “grow into it,” T-Mac said. “The more situations they’re in, the more confident they get, the better they become, the more successful they are. You do that by making kicks. That’s the only way you can do it. Nobody cares who the kicker is. All they care about is if he puts the ball through the pipes.”
Nobody cares how old the kicker is, either. I talked to Carney the other day. He said that the personal challenge early in his career was to make a team. “Now,” he said, “the challenge is to see how far I can stretch it.”

Sumrall Helps in the Community

Fifty students at the IPS Center for Inquiry received a special gift from Indianapolis Colts players on Tuesday, October 28. As a part of their continued effort to promote physical fitness among Indiana youth, the Colts distributed new bicycles and helmets to kindergarten and first grade students in the school’s gymnasium. Prior to the distribution event, Colts staff members and parents from the school helped assemble the bicycles.

Colts DB’s Brandon Foster and Brandon Sumrall were on hand to help hand out the bikes and share a few bicycle safety tips with the children. They covered everything from buckling helmets to looking both ways before crossing the street. The purchase of the bikes was funded through NFL Charities and the NFL’s league-wide “Play 60” initiative launched by the NFL and its 32 teams to focus on the health and wellness of young fans by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. The helmets were donated by Flanner and Buchanan through their bicycle helmet program, which has provided more than 30,000 helmets to Indiana youth since 1999.

The Colts selected the Center for Inquiry to receive this donation after learning that the new Indianapolis Cultural Trail will run adjacent to the school’s grounds and will be used by their students for bike rides and walks. The Indianapolis Cultural Trail will connect neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities while also serving as the downtown hub for the entire Central Indiana greenway system. Completion of the entire trail is scheduled for 2012, just in time for the Super Bowl.

Colts Community Tuesdays, sponsored by WISH TV, is a season-long outreach program in which players participate in various charitable activities every Tuesday of the season.

Bucs’ Morris to be Hot Coaching Commodity in Off Season

Sources say Buccaneers secondary coach Raheem Morris will be one of the hottest candidates for a defensive coordinator position this offseason, and he’ll be free to explore his options — his contract expires at the end of year. Insiders called him a “clone” of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who also served as an assistant on the staff of Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

Cletis Gordon’s London Diary

The big challenge for me and a lot of the other guys is getting adjusted to the time change. I normally sleep about 7-8 hours a night, but I got 4-5 hours the first night. I make up for it with little naps. We had a longer bus ride to the city today; it was about an hour-and-a-half, and I slept the entire time. So I am catching up, but hopefully I can get back to normal fast. Usually I’m asleep by 11 (p.m.) and up at 6:30 (a.m.), but I’ve had a hard time falling asleep here. The 1-5 stuff isn’t going to cut it.

We did get back to London today and got a much closer look at the big sights —- Big Ben, Buckingham Palace. It’s been a little chilly, but today was nice —- no rain. It was about 50 degrees, but the sun was out, unlike yesterday when it was a little rainy. It made it easier to walk around and enjoy the sights. There were a lot of people out.

Practice starts Wednesday. Our first meeting is at 8, and we’re on the field at 1:15. I’m just hoping that we’re all up and ready to get after it and not sluggish when practice starts. We need to get a good week of practice in.

Jets Just Latest Stop for Poteat

The woman’s new gym membership came with a promise: You’ll be able to fit into your dream wedding dress in no time with the help of one of our trusted athletic trainers.
So, when she signed on the dotted line at Bally Total Fitness just outside Philadelphia, eager to shed a few pounds, the boss turned to one of the club’s newest, low-level trainers.

Hank Poteat at your service.

Long before the journeyman cornerback re-signed with the Jets three weeks ago after being released eight times in his nine-year career, Poteat was wearing a red t-shirt and nametag — “Hello, My Name is Hank” — whipping strangers into shape.

It was 2005.

Poteat, professional football player, was out of a job.

Again.

He kept a low-profile and never wore his Super Bowl ring to work, helping men and women of all shapes and sizes.

“I had a guy come in who was about 100 pounds and wanted to gain a whole lot of muscle,” Poteat, 31, said this week. “He came in at 6 or 7 o’clock at night and didn’t eat since breakfast. But he wanted to gain all this weight. He couldn’t even lift the bar.”

Standing under a brightly lit locker with his name on it, Poteat smiled at the memory. Somehow, his wild and wacky career that has included stints with the Steelers, Buccaneers, Panthers and Patriots found its way back here.

“I’ve seen so much,” he said. “You never know what might happen in this league.”

The Steelers selected Poteat — an All-Big East player at the University of Pittsburgh — in the third round of the 2000 draft. The 5-10, 195-pound cornerback, however, never lived up to expectations.

On August 31, 2003, he was cut for the first time.

It proved to be a seminal moment.

“That was the turning point,” Poteat said. “It was a life-changing experience for me. That’s when I really understood what I needed to do to be a pro. It opened my eyes.”

Poteat leaned on his faith.

Less than two months later, the Buccaneers signed him. He played in one game, registering three tackles on special teams.

Three weeks after Poteat arrived in Tampa, he was cut for the second time.

On Christmas Eve of the 2003 season — a little more than a month after the Buccaneers cut him — the Panthers signed him.

Poteat played two preseason games with Carolina in 2004 before agreeing to an injury settlement after breaking his thumb.

On Sept. 5, 2004, he was released for the third time.

A strange journey was about to get much stranger.

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David Keeps the Faith, Gives Saints a Lift

Critics have been brutal, present company included.

We’ve questioned cornerback Jason David’s worthiness as a Saint, noted his failings, wondered why he was on the field, said he wasn’t fit to be a corner.

Now, maybe, he’s on the verge of turning one.

It’ll take a few more performances like the one he had Sunday, of course, when he had an interception, two pass breakups and two tackles in a 34-3 win over the Raiders at the Superdome. And every opposing quarterback won’t be as green as Oakland’s JaMarcus Russell, a former LSU standout who missed most of last season, his rookie year, holding out in a contract dispute.

But with all the grief David has taken, we must give him his due.

“I wouldn’t say that (things are falling into place) just yet,” David said. “I think it’s a little bit more focus this year, just try and get better each day. Kind of like what I was doing last year.

“Last year I didn’t play as well as I wanted to, obviously. This year I just wanted to — whenever I got the chance, whenever I got the opportunity — make the best of it. I think with Tracy (Porter) being down (for the rest of the season with an injured wrist) I’m going to have a couple more chances to make plays and show the coaches and fans what I can do.”

Honestly, though, nothing he can do on the field will be more impressive than what he has done off it.

David hasn’t broken.

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David Starts to Redeem Himself

Through blunder after blunder through his 22-game career with the New Orleans Saints, cornerback Jason David stood up and took the heat.

He’s tried to be as gracious as possible considering he’s been the defense’s main punching bag for the past couple of seasons. David even took his demotion from the starting lineup in stride, becoming a solid contributor on special teams.

But when No. 42 runs on the field to try to cover a wide receiver, fans typically cringe and quarterbacks typically attack.

During Sunday’s 34-3 win over the Oakland Raiders in the Louisiana Superdome, David gave fans a reason to root for No. 42. He played one of his most solid games since being with the Saints and made the type of plays Saints coach Sean Payton and Co. were hoping to see from him in the previous 21 games.

David racked up two tackles and deflected two passes during his extended playing time in the Saints’ nickel package. Yet it was David’s interception of the Raiders’ JaMarcus Russell in the third quarter that directly aided in start of the Saints’ blowout.

“Jason David’s interception to set up the touchdown a few plays later put us up all of a sudden three scores,” Payton said. “That’s a significant play in the game.”

David said the business of playing in the NFL is all about putting bad performances him and making up for it the next time. The scrappy 5-foot-8, 180-pound cornerback can revel in his Sunday performance.

“I’m just working hard, man,” David said. “I always kept faith in what I can do and things that I’m capable of doing. I never really gave up being that I wasn’t the starter this year and I was only playing special teams.

“It was a little more than about four years when I had to make a start as a rookie in Oakland and I got an interception for a touchdown. This league is all about making the best of your opportunities and (Sunday) I got an opportunity to plays some nickel and play some corner and it worked out (Sunday). I was just going out there to try and make a play.”

David could have gone diva for a minute and patted himself on the back for his interception and solid play. But for David, it still goes back to being a team-first guy much like his teammates have done when defending David through his struggles.

“Most importantly, it means a lot to the defense just being able to turnover the ball and make a play for our team,” David said. “Regardless if it was me or another player, it was big for our team as a whole. But for me personally, it felt good. I haven’t had much playing time this year. I just practice hard each day and try to work on my craft and try to get better.”

David probably won’t see the type of playing time like he has the past couple of weeks once veteran Aaron Glenn returns from a sprained ankle ligament. He probably won’t crack the starting lineup again unless injuries force him in the game.

None of that will stop David from looking to improve, though, and Sunday’s game was a step in the right direction.

“Each day at practice, you can ask the coaches, I try to practice as hard as I can,” David said. “I stay afterwards and do the little things just to get better. The thing that I always do is work hard and try to get better. Even last year when fans and the media were on me for not playing as well as I could, and that’s true, but I was still trying to get better last year. It’s same thing for me this year.”

Tomlin Named Coach of the Week

Coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is the Motorola Coach of the Week for games played on Oct. 5-6.

Tomlin led the Steelers to a 26-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, improving to 4-1 and holding onto first place in the AFC North. The Steelers controlled all aspects of the game: Total yards (415 to 213), rushing yards (129 to 38), first downs (28 to 14) and time of possession (33:23 to 26:37). QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns. Pittsburgh’s defense also limited the Jaguars to a 23 percent conversion rate on third downs.

Tomlin was selected as Motorola NFL Coach of the Week from among three finalists by voters on NFL.com. The other finalists were Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons and Tony Sparano of the Miami Dolphins.

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Related: Is Tomlin more energized this season?

Many Happy Returns

When the Carolina Panthers signed Mark Jones one week before the regular season opener to return punts, many viewed him as a stopgap until Ryne Robinson was healthy enough to return.

And perhaps that was true at the time.

But with Robinson unable to return from a knee injury and out for the year, the job now belongs to Jones full-time.

And that’s not such a bad thing.

Through five games, Jones has averaged a very respectable 10.2 yards per punt return, which ranks 12th in the NFL and is yard-and-a-half better than Robinson’s average last season.

Outside of one blunder against San Diego where he misread a punt and let it hit him in the back of the leg – nearly resulting in a turnover – Jones has looked extremely reliable. On kicks inside the 10, he’s disguised catching the ball well, resulting in a few touchbacks — the sign of smart, veteran returner.

The best thing about Jones, 27, is he seems to look better with each passing week as he becomes more comfortable with the players blocking for him.

He’s coming off his best game last week against Kansas City, returning five punts for 68 yards. As a bonus, he played some wide receiver after D.J. Hackett went down and caught his first NFL pass, a pretty 19-yard reception on third-and-17 to help move the chains.

“He’s done a tremendous job,” coach John Fox said. “He’s come in and he’s learned quickly. Being a guy who is going to get a jersey on Sundays because of his return ability, we’ve had to rely on him some at receiver, too. And you saw that last week. He found the soft spot in the zone, a pretty aware play, and he made a nice grab. So he’s been a pleasant surprise.”

As Fox pointed out, returning punts in the NFL is more complicated than just catching the ball and running with it.

“There are a lot of little things,” Fox said. “Sometimes it doesn’t look like it, but there are plays on returns. There are things to pick up. And he’s a sharp guy who hasn’t struggled at all.”

Jones’ story is all the more amazing considering he tore his left patella tendon last October while playing for Tampa Bay.

It was horrible timing considering he was due to become an unrestricted free agent after the ’07 season. With concerns over his knee, the Bucs didn’t re-sign him.

He signed with San Diego in June but failed to earn a roster spot, losing out to one of the league’s top returners in Darren Sproles.

The Panthers saw enough from Jones in the preseason to take a flier on him with Robinson down.

“Is it better than my other knee? No, it’s not,” Jones said of his recovery. “It is good enough to where I can do everything I did last year. The strength is not there, but as far as me thinking and being hesitant, I don’t have that anymore. Apprehension, none of that, is there.”

This is a special week for Jones, who spent his first four seasons in Tampa Bay after coming into the league as a seventh-round draft pick from Tennessee in 2004.

“I’m not going to worry who’s in the stands watching me and who’s up in the offices watching me,” Jones said. “They made their decision and I have to live with that…. I knew how I was going to turn out, but they didn’t know. They had to make moves and better their team. They made those moves and I can’t do anything about that.”

Holliday Welcomes Role as Leader & Mentor

Vonnie Holliday was in the most somber of places, in the most solemn of moods, when he became the unwitting butt of a joke.

The Dolphins defensive end had traveled to Atlanta to attend a relative’s burial during the off-season, and he was catching up with family members when talk turned to football. Holliday asked his stepbrother how his middle school football team was doing and the boy shrugged.

“We’re 0-3 right now,” he replied, “but you guys were 1-15.”

Holliday had no retort. He realizes he’s indelibly linked to the worst season in franchise history and one of the worst ever in the NFL - a punch line even at a funeral.

“That’s what it’s come to,” he said, recalling the moment with a sort of dark-humor half smile. “Even your family and friends are joking about the 1-15. I mean, that’s serious to me. He hurt my feelings.”

Holliday used to spend off-seasons talking to buddies about the upcoming season, maybe even talk a little trash. But not after 1-15 …

“You can’t even talk smack anymore,” he said.

Now the 11-year NFL veteran, who nearly gave up hope for a future in Miami last season, finds himself the elder statesman of an aggressive, young defense that’s helped the Dolphins win back-to-back games for the first time since 2006.

Not that Holliday is looking past last season’s debacle and ahead to the playoffs.

“You can’t forget about that,” he said. “You’re kidding yourself. We were 1-15. That’s why we catch all the (flack) we do now. We’ve got to put more wins together before we can say we forgot about last season.”

Holliday is typical of the reemerging Dolphins under the Bill Parcells regime, facing this season as if it were his last. Voted a captain by his teammates, he has taken over the leadership role vacated by Dolphin greats Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor.

“You watch him play, you watch him practice and you understand he’s a man who’s hungry,” said linebacker Akin Ayodele, a veteran newcomer from Dallas.

Holliday is reinvigorated, in part, by confidence in a locker room that last year was swallowed by apathy and confusion. He said the players were rudderless on and off the field.

“Last year, with Cam Cameron, from the beginning it was almost a joke. We never had any direction or plan in place,” Holliday said. “The lack of confidence in your coach, it was tough … That was by far the worst team I’ve ever been on.”

Cameron was fired as head coach at the end of his first season and the Dolphins started looking for their third coach in Holliday’s four years in Miami. Holliday wasn’t optimistic, saying he thought to himself that “I don’t want to be a part of that again. That’s not what I signed up for.”

When Parcells was hired to direct the football operations, Holliday figured there’d be success in the future, but wondered if he’d be a part of it. He heard about how Parcells liked to surround himself with his own guys. He knew Parcells didn’t want to rebuild with old players and didn’t like players who were hurt.

And Holliday, 32, was both last season.

Then, Thomas was released and rumors swirled about Taylor’s eventual trade. Veteran quarterback Trent Green and defensive tackle Keith Traylor were gone.

Holliday knew that given a fair evaluation, he’d prove that there was not a player on the roster more determined to help turn around the franchise.

“I knew that if I got a chance to come back and play that it wouldn’t be that way,” he said.

Holliday said he never in his career worked so hard to prepare in the off-season. He was fueled by the memory of last year’s embarrassment, and linebacker Channing Crowder remembers Holliday closing a team meeting with a message to his teammates:

“Everybody from last year remembers what it’s like to be 1-15. Remember that feeling.”

Crowder was especially inspired.

“I would fly through a wall for him because I know he’s going to work,” Crowder said.

Holliday also became a mentor to the many fresh, young faces brought aboard, especially rookie defensive linemen Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford.

“Even when I do good, he can see where I can improve,” Merling said. “He gives me that extra help. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Holliday always told himself that if he made it to 10 seasons in pro ball, he’d retire a happy man. Every season after that, he said, would be “gravy.” But he doesn’t want any more lumpy, losing seasons spoiling the remaining years.

“I don’t know how many more of these I have left in me, so every game, every practice, every week, I’m trying to enjoy it to the fullest. Every game is important to me,” he said. “I want these to be the best years.”

Holliday was part of the goal-line stand that sealed Sunday’s 17-10 win over San Diego, and coach Tony Sparano couldn’t help but smile when he saw his defensive end soaking in the post-game celebration.

“When you walk by his locker and you see his face at the end of that, to me that’s what this thing is all about,” Sparano said.

Two straight victories and a chance to keep proving that it’s no fluke.

“We’ll continue to be the underdog,” Holliday said. “We’ll continue to fight for respect and that’s a role that we’ve embraced. Guys have bought in. Guys have chips on their shoulders.

“Being a part of that, and seeing that, it gives you a swell of pride.”

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