Kickers get a lot of flak at every level of the sport for not being a “real football player”. They might not practice as much or as hard as many of the other positions, but when the pressure is on, nobody has it harder than a kicker. One ill-timed miss can ruin a reputation for years, and some organizations will move on from a kicker at the drop of a hat after just one or two mistakes. Chris Boswell knows the feeling all too well.
If you look in the record books, Boswell is one of the best kickers of all time. He is the best all time from 50 or more yards. But lost in that view of his full body of work was the 2018 season. He went 13-for-20, including two misses between the 30 and 39 and five misses from 40 to 49. He even missed five extra points. This was immediately following his first Pro Bowl season in 2017.
The Steelers lost multiple games that season in part because of Boswell’s mistakes, where he had a chance to put the game away but wasn’t able to. That is the lowest of lows for a kicker at any level but amplified when you’re getting paid millions of dollars in the NFL.
Chris Boswell discussed his experience through that slump and how the Steelers stuck with him, which obviously turned out to be an excellent decision.
“It’s a huge prop to [Art] Rooney [II] and [Mike] Tomlin and Kevin Colbert at the time. ‘Cause I mean, in this business, you’re in and out quick, especially at the kicker position,” Boswell said via the Christian Kuntz Podcast on YouTube. “Obviously it was one of the most down moments of my life. When you’re in it, you can’t get out of it. Everything’s just magnified. And that’s kinda when I learned a lot more about myself.
“I’ll tell you right now, I called my agent three or four times that year wanting to quit, wanting to be done, wanting to just get out of it. It’s a nightmare. You can’t see any lights or anything.”
Some players will avoid social media and everything else, but sometimes the outcry gets so loud that it’s nearly impossible to avoid. To a certain extent, players have to be available to the media, and the media is going to ask the hard questions.
Just look at Tyler Bass from last year’s playoffs. The Buffalo Bills kicker deleted all his social media after receiving rampant death threats for missing a field goal.
Kickers only see the field a few times a game, so if they are hurting the team they can become a scapegoat for a team’s struggles in a hurry.
Chris Boswell’s story is still being written as he continues to ascend into the best kicker in the NFL. He was overshadowed by Justin Tucker for years, but with Tucker’s recent struggles, Boswell is finally being viewed as the league’s best. He was selected to his second Pro Bowl earlier today.
He bounced back quickly from the 2018 depths with a stellar 2019 season, and he’s pretty much been money ever since. This season has been some of his finest work, going 40-of-43, including 12-of-14 from 50 to 59 yards out. He has already made the most of his career and there is still one more game to go on Saturday.
“I didn’t really tell people my mental struggles that year or anything,” Boswell said. “My agent knew every detail because we kind of work hand in hand in this whole thing, so huge props to Jeff and helping me not quit.”
I don’t know this for sure, but it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that many other kickers have a similar dark period where they question their career. Yes, they get paid millions of dollars to kick a football, but the pressure that comes with it is immeasurable.
