NUance Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Smith takes risk, gets rewarded By Eric Olson / Associated Press / Associated Press / www.scout.com <snip> Smith said he always envisioned kicking at the highest level of college football. He left Quincy, Ill., in 2009 to walk on at Missouri and quickly found out that he wouldn't beat out incumbent Grant Ressel. He transferred to FCS-level Western Illinois, where he won the kicking job for the final six games in 2010. He was the Leathernecks' special teams player of the year in 2011. Last year he made all 10 of his field-goal attempts and was a finalist for the Fred Mitchell Award, which is given to the top kicker at a non-FBS school. Having completed his undergraduate degree last year, Smith was able to use his final year of eligibility at a school that offered a graduate program Western Illinois didn't. He's scheduled to finish his master's degree in actuarial sciences at Nebraska in 2015.LINK 1 Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 "Sometimes," Smith said, "you have to bet big to win big." He's scheduled to finish his master's degree in actuarial sciences at Nebraska in 2015. Hopefully for his sake he can separate his football and professional lives. Quote Link to comment
NUance Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 "Sometimes," Smith said, "you have to bet big to win big." He's scheduled to finish his master's degree in actuarial sciences at Nebraska in 2015. Hopefully for his sake he can separate his football and professional lives. But isn't that what an actuary is---a professional gambler? Someone who bets that their client won't die or get sick within a given time frame? Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 But isn't that what an actuary is---a professional gambler? Someone who bets that their client won't die or get sick within a given time frame? Probably a gambler to some extent but on the other end of the spectrum - trying to minimize risk instead of betting big. Quote Link to comment
ObamaRocks91 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 I'm loving this actuary talk. Keep it up guys!! Quote Link to comment
husker07 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 I just hope Pat doesn't miss any more extra points. Quote Link to comment
Minnesota_husker Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Be interesting to see what happens when mini-Brown gets in here. Kind of suprised to see Bondi not get a lick of playing time. Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Be interesting to see what happens when mini-Brown gets in here. Kind of suprised to see Bondi not get a lick of playing time. Bondi still handles kickoffs. Just not FG/PATs. Quote Link to comment
ObamaRocks91 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Be interesting to see what happens when mini-Brown gets in here. Kind of suprised to see Bondi not get a lick of playing time. I would suspect Bondi to not kick a FG for the rest of his career. Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Be interesting to see what happens when mini-Brown gets in here. Kind of suprised to see Bondi not get a lick of playing time. I would suspect Bondi to not kick a FG for the rest of his career. Which wouldn't be terrible. Kunalic was a great weapon for us - save for one kick. Quote Link to comment
ObamaRocks91 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Be interesting to see what happens when mini-Brown gets in here. Kind of suprised to see Bondi not get a lick of playing time. I would suspect Bondi to not kick a FG for the rest of his career. Which wouldn't be terrible. Kunalic was a great weapon for us - save for one kick. Yes, it's great to have a kick off weapon and all. But generally you wouldn't want a guy who ONLY does kick offs to eat up a scholarship for 4 years. Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Yes, it's great to have a kick off weapon and all. But generally you wouldn't want a guy who ONLY does kick offs to eat up a scholarship for 4 years. It's not like he can't kick FGs. I'm fine with having two kickers. Much better than only having one should he get hurt. Quote Link to comment
ObamaRocks91 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Yes, it's great to have a kick off weapon and all. But generally you wouldn't want a guy who ONLY does kick offs to eat up a scholarship for 4 years. It's not like he can't kick FGs. I'm fine with having two kickers. Much better than only having one should he get hurt. He can't kick FGs at a rate the staff is comfortable with. Not all teams give their kickers scholarships, we do and I'm happy about it. But when you have a kicker on scholly (Bondi) and you actively go out and recruit a one year, fifth year senior to come kick (Smith) that means you don't have confidence in the first guy. How many games have we had where our #1 kicker wasn't available due to injury? Not only us, but any kicker on a team you follow? Of course that doesn't mean you don't have a walk-on or two in the wings just in case, but injuries to kickers are extremely rare. Their one function is an very natural, repeatable motion that isn't physically taxing. They face very little contact otherwise. Quote Link to comment
Mavric Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 You sure make a lot of assumptions: - That Brown is automatically better than Bondi - maybe, maybe not - That the coaches aren't comfortable with Bondi - just because he isn't as good as Smith doesn't mean they aren't comfortable with him - That the coaches were actively looking for a new kicker. This one is patently false. - That the only way kickers get injured is during games. Michigan is missing their kicker for the BWW Bowl, by the way. Quote Link to comment
ObamaRocks91 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 You sure make a lot of assumptions: - That Brown is automatically better than Bondi - maybe, maybe not - That the coaches aren't comfortable with Bondi - just because he isn't as good as Smith doesn't mean they aren't comfortable with him - That the coaches were actively looking for a new kicker. This one is patently false. - That the only way kickers get injured is during games. Michigan is missing their kicker for the BWW Bowl, by the way. - No one said Brown is better - that is why I said "suspect". Implies my opinion, nothing more. - To your next two points. Smith got on our team. The coaches don't allow another kicker on the team unless A. they recruited him B. they felt a need for him. That means they were looking for another kicker (they recruited him). How is that patently false? If they were comfortable with Bondi, they wouldn't go recruit another kicker as a stop-gap for one year. - I'm sure there have has been an injured kicker in the history of football, and the Michigan one is a great example. But how common is that? In the last 20 years, have we ever had a game missed due to injury by our starting kicker? The only actual assumption I made is that Brown will beat out Bondi and I have made no definitive statements about that. Other than that, everything is basically spelled out as clear as can be and I'm not sure how or why you're arguing something that is so clear. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.