Let me start by saying, that the more that you have going for you, the better. Some very important factors: great character as a person, team leader, positive influence in the locker room, hard worker, good grades, SAT scores, ACT scores, extracurricular activities, head coach’s evaluation, principal’s evaluation, kicking coach’s evaluation, camp exposure, highlight video, high school statistics, etc. etc. I could go on and on. Be the best that you can be in everything that you do. Period. Control what you can control. Reach your full potential in every area you can think of.
So back to the question posed. Yes, if you have great, even good high school stats, it can surely help you. If you do not have good stats, or really just any stats at all, it won’t particularly hurt you. It will come down to your skill level when all is said and done. The stats may help you get exposure, but there are also other ways to go about getting exposure. Again, see the list above.
You might wonder, well if the stats are no good, that must mean the player is no good and must not be able to kick under pressure. This may be true, but also may not be. At the high school level the opportunities given to each player vary greatly. Some things to consider: strength of team, quality of high school coach and attention paid to special teams. quality of snapper (Yes Rubio, I will interject here with your blog request, more later), quality of holder, quality of blocking. In high school you will see a huge difference in the above from school to school. In college, not so much. In the pros, not at all. So we all must take these factors into consideration. And believe it or not, most college coaches do.
I can give you dozens of examples, but here are three that focus on simple field goal stats. 1-15, 2-3, 5-12. Not great right? How about scholarships to the PAC-10, Big 12, and SEC. The moral is, do your best to find a great program, work hard with the coaches and other specialists provided, and never give up no matter how bad your stats are looking. You may hit a 55-Yarder that turns heads, you may not. Either way, if your stats don’t accurately reflect your talent, you still have so many other ways to find your way onto a college team, . Ultimately, college coaches investing thousands of dollars, will find the best kickers and punters the nation has, regardless of stats.
And yes, kickers and punters, it all begins with the snap. At the high school level especially, be thankful for every great snap that you get. Snappers, “We can’t do it without you”.
(129)
