Ode to the place-kicker

Down by one point with virtually no time remaining, Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant was called on to boot a miraculous 62-yard field goal to win the game Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. After a long day in the trenches, the entire game came down to one man's foot -- and in this case, he pulled through.\nOh, to be an NFL kicker. A figurine of a man on a field with giants, keeping his professional career alive by using the strength of one appendage. \nThere really isn't a physical and athletic discrepancy in any other sport like place kicking in football. And for some purists of the sport (or those like Skip Bayless on ESPN's "Cold Pizza"), a kicker has no business being on the football field. They see the game of football as a game of brutality on the field and fluidity in the air. And a place-kicker, they say, has no place in such a game.\nEven though I'm far from a football purist, I think there's something unique about being a kicker.\nYou're a specialized football player whose main job is to kick a pigskin between two yellow goal posts. Sure, you're required to make a tackle every once in a while. But for the most part, all you have to do is keep your leg strong and flexible and watch a player like LaDainian Tomlinson run, receive and pass for a touchdown.\nThe game itself is built on speed, quick hands, violence and a form of Greco-Roman wrestling among sports' heaviest athletes. But the kicker can be some schmuck pulled from a men's soccer league roster.\nPoor kickers, right? They can be the ultimate goat or the ultimate hero (see Scott Norwood and Adam Vinatieri, respectively). And it's unfair to put them in such a situation. The bravest little man can stare Shawne Merriman in the face as he knocks a game-winning field goal through the uprights. Or the frailest man in pads can shake like a nervous Chihuahua peeing itself.\nYou have kickers that bask in glory and others that adjust themselves sexually to escape blame and Dan Marino's envy. Then there are kickers, like Mike Vanderjagt, who just get liquored up and run their mouths. And while I slowly twist the knife into you Colts fans by bringing up this wretched memory, remember that a kicker can blow the Super Bowl hopes of the best offensive tandem in the league with a simple error. Teams consistently get Buckner'd and Bartman'd when it's not fair that they be put in such a situation in the first place.\nBefore the age of specialized kickers, football players would assume double duty and kick extra points and field goals when the situation arose. Halfback Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers led the league in scoring for three straight seasons while taking placekicking responsibilities. During the 1961 season, he set the record for the most points scored in a championship game, scoring 19 points on three field goals, three extra points and a touchdown.\nAs right guard for the Packers during those years, Jerry Kramer assumed some kicking duties after Hornung. He kicked three field goals and an extra point in the Packers 16-7 victory against the New York Giants in the 1962 NFL title game. \nIt's almost hard to see that today. Imagine watching an offensive lineman kick a field goal on a consistent basis. Picture Kyle Turley trying -- he'd probably throw his helmet at the ref who gestures wide right.\nOverall, it's a tough shake for these kickers. They can be ridiculed, blamed and scorned for what they do. And it's certainly not an easy job kicking with the game on the line.\nThe truth is the kicker shouldn't be blamed for finding a loophole into professional athletics. He should be applauded. Hey, if they could somehow incorporate ping pong into football, I'm golden.