Two Vikings Rookies “Sound” Ready for Camp
Joe Oberle
|
The rookies reported to camp the first week (with the vets scheduled for their first practice on Saturday), so they have three days in the limelight (unless you are a shy rookie and would like to pass on by the glaring lights and microphones of the media and get into the locker room). But this was their time to make a statement before the veterans start practicing and many people start to forget they are there.
A player can make a statement like the one that wide receiver Jeff Badet made about his being “the fastest player on the roster.” It might be a valid claim—and I hope it is—but let’s allow the others to get in camp and see if he is still saying that then. His claim might be little more than braggadocio, or he might have the chops, either way I will keep my eye on him (if he is not just a blur racing past in a route) at camp this summer.
Another rookie made a statement that I found refreshing, and he already appears to know how to say all the right things. Rookie place kicker Daniel Carlson, who was chosen in the fifth round held court after the first full practice of camp. He earlier made all six of his kicks in practice (and none appeared much longer that 40 yards) and they all went right down the middle with plenty of leg to spare.
It occurred to me, however, that there was a little less pressure without veteran kicker Kai Forbath on the field, alternating kicks (and perhaps glares) with him as was the case during OTAs and minicamp—went things didn’t always go perfect for either kicker.
But when Carlson was talking after the practice, with sweat dripping down his temples, he comported himself well for a fresh-faced rookie. He made the requisite plaudits for his special teams coach, his holder and his long snapper, all good things a rookie would say to avoid the coach’s doghouse or a rookie hazing. Carlson even had nice things to say about his competitor in the same room, Forbath.
“We have a great relationship,” Carlson said. “We work together in practice. We’ve gotten the opportunity to just feed off each other, but obviously it’s also competition, so there is that side of it where we are trying to push each other. So, it’s gone great so far; I am looking forward to it continuing over the rest of camp.”
But then he was asked about whether he was nervous coming into a big league camp and facing a battle against a veteran who had some success with the squad last season.
“I would say it is excitement [rather than nervousness]. I think part of kicking is pressure and nerves and you have to deal with it,” Carlson said. “You’ve kind of got to love it, otherwise it is not a great job unless you are wanting to deal with a little pressure. Because, obviously on Sundays, and for me Saturdays in the past, you have a lot of high pressure games and high pressure situations, so it’s exciting to get back out here and continue to work and compete and, hopefully, make some big kicks on Sundays.”
Another reporter asked a follow-up about high-pressure situations, and Carlson got the opportunity to double down on his “love” for those situations.
“If you want to be a top-level kicker, you have to get used to it and you’ve got to embrace it,” he said. “You are going to be a hero or the goat sometimes—that’s just part of the job. I’ve missed some kicks and made some big kicks in my career in college, in high school and whatever else and that’s all part of the learning experience. But I think now at this point I’ve had a lot of experience in big games, and I’ve learned to enjoy it, embrace it and, hopefully, I will be at my best when that time comes.”
If you have watched some of the kickers roll through here in the past few years with all levels of confidence and you have seen how unevenly that has worked out for them, this might come off as a bit brash—not unlike the speed comment mentioned above. But the truth may be (for Badet, as well as, Carlson), you don’t get to this level without some modicum of belief in your own abilities, and if you acknowledge the need to wrap your arms around the kicking pressure in this league, then you aren’t likely going to get blind-sided by it in the worst way.
Carlson doesn’t come off as cocky, and he also appears to have experienced both sides of life as a place kicker—at least to the point where he is able to verbalize, perhaps, the best way to handle it. But talk is cheap. He doesn’t know yet what the pressure is like in the NFL, when games and jobs and paychecks are on the line and can be decided by the performance of his leg, so we will reserve complete judgment on whether or not he is ready for prime time—camp is for helping sort that out. But I also don’t think he is going to get surprised by what’s coming. And for right now—this first week of camp—that is good enough.