RadMann
April 15th, 2006, 10:05 AM
Decent article on I-AA all-american placekicker Jon Scifres from Missouri State.
"Reluctant kicker is still at it
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/14/2006
It's not as if kicking a football is a longstanding tradition in the Scifres family.
"My dad played baseball, and my oldest brother played baseball," said Missouri State place-kicker Jon Scifres. "My dad (Jim Scifres) played in the minor leagues for the Cardinals. He was a catcher."
But Scifres' older brother, Mike, parlayed a successful college stint punting for Western Illinois into an NFL job with the San Diego Chargers. Now Jon is trying to do the same, but as a place-kicker.
"I at least never wanted to kick," Jon said. "It kind of fell in my lap. Same with Mike, too. We just started playing football; it was something to try. And it ended up being (Mike's) profession."
Once Mike started excelling at Western Illinois, where he was a Division I-AA All-American, Jon had no say in the matter at Destrehan High in New Orleans.
"Basically, the high school coaches just said after (Mike) left: 'This is what you're going to do. You're going to kick. That's all you're going to do,'" Jon said. "I had no choice. I tried to play linebacker freshman year, but they said, 'No, you're going to kick.'".......
See link below for rest of article:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/ED66DBBF4CD68AE486257151000C53F3?OpenDocument
"Reluctant kicker is still at it
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/14/2006
It's not as if kicking a football is a longstanding tradition in the Scifres family.
"My dad played baseball, and my oldest brother played baseball," said Missouri State place-kicker Jon Scifres. "My dad (Jim Scifres) played in the minor leagues for the Cardinals. He was a catcher."
But Scifres' older brother, Mike, parlayed a successful college stint punting for Western Illinois into an NFL job with the San Diego Chargers. Now Jon is trying to do the same, but as a place-kicker.
"I at least never wanted to kick," Jon said. "It kind of fell in my lap. Same with Mike, too. We just started playing football; it was something to try. And it ended up being (Mike's) profession."
Once Mike started excelling at Western Illinois, where he was a Division I-AA All-American, Jon had no say in the matter at Destrehan High in New Orleans.
"Basically, the high school coaches just said after (Mike) left: 'This is what you're going to do. You're going to kick. That's all you're going to do,'" Jon said. "I had no choice. I tried to play linebacker freshman year, but they said, 'No, you're going to kick.'".......
See link below for rest of article:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/ED66DBBF4CD68AE486257151000C53F3?OpenDocument