Article from last year with interesting quotes: Rookie kicker Lucas Havrisik trying to make most of unlikely shot with Colts
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Rookie kicker Lucas Havrisik trying to make most of unlikely shot with Colts
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Joel A. Erickson
Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Lucas Havrisik has spent a long summer trying to earn his shot.
Havrisik, the big leg from the University of Arizona, had a tryout at rookie minicamp with the Colts in May, beginning an odyssey that seemed like it might never end.
The undrafted rookie tried out at a mandatory minicamp, then spent most of the training camp period on the kicker circuit, going through workouts without getting signed to an NFL roster.
Havrisik finally got his shot this week. The Colts signed the rookie, along with veteran Chase McLaughlin, to the practice squad to compete for the right to replace Rodrigo Blankenship as the team’s primary kicker in Jacksonville this week.
Blankenship was waived after missing a game-winning 42-yard field goal in overtime and sending two kickoffs out of bounds in crunch time.
“To have it happen how it did, right now, is crazy,” Havrisik said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”
Havrisik is an unlikely signing.
He spent most of his career at Arizona as the team’s long-range kicker, blasting away on kickoffs and long field goals, but ceding the short kicks to teammate Tyler Loop.
Havrisik made just 64.2% of his kicks in college. The incredible leg strength is the reason NFL teams kept giving him looks.
“I’ve got a strong leg, I’ve just got to clean it up consistently,” Havrisik said.
Havrisik spent four months working with long-time Chargers and Saints kicker John Carney leading up to the draft, intent on capitalizing on his power.
“For me, if you can kick a long field goal, you should be able to kick short field goals,” Havrisik said. “It’s the same thing. Literally. I treat every kick the same.”
For the past few months, he’s been working with former Arizona kicker Alex Zendejas.
The way Havrisik sees it, he faced a lot of adversity in college, and he’d be crazy to give up the opportunity to chase his NFL dream.
“I had three head coaches, a lot of coaching staff changes, not a lot of the same routine through my college career, so it was hard to get in the flow,” Havrisik said. “A lot of different stuff thrown at me every year. Injuries, changing plans.”
Havrisik is a confident young man.
The way he’s been kicking, he feels like he should have earned a shot already.
“I think I killed every workout,” Havrisik said. “I don’t think it was a progressive thing.”
The Colts planned on making their decision late in the week.
Friday is Frank Reich’s final media availability, and the Colts could obviously make their decision after that.
Only time will tell if Havrisik is able to make good on this chance.
#HelmetHornsMatter
“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.
“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood
link
Joel A. Erickson
Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Lucas Havrisik has spent a long summer trying to earn his shot.
Havrisik, the big leg from the University of Arizona, had a tryout at rookie minicamp with the Colts in May, beginning an odyssey that seemed like it might never end.
The undrafted rookie tried out at a mandatory minicamp, then spent most of the training camp period on the kicker circuit, going through workouts without getting signed to an NFL roster.
Havrisik finally got his shot this week. The Colts signed the rookie, along with veteran Chase McLaughlin, to the practice squad to compete for the right to replace Rodrigo Blankenship as the team’s primary kicker in Jacksonville this week.
Blankenship was waived after missing a game-winning 42-yard field goal in overtime and sending two kickoffs out of bounds in crunch time.
“To have it happen how it did, right now, is crazy,” Havrisik said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”
Havrisik is an unlikely signing.
He spent most of his career at Arizona as the team’s long-range kicker, blasting away on kickoffs and long field goals, but ceding the short kicks to teammate Tyler Loop.
Havrisik made just 64.2% of his kicks in college. The incredible leg strength is the reason NFL teams kept giving him looks.
“I’ve got a strong leg, I’ve just got to clean it up consistently,” Havrisik said.
Havrisik spent four months working with long-time Chargers and Saints kicker John Carney leading up to the draft, intent on capitalizing on his power.
“For me, if you can kick a long field goal, you should be able to kick short field goals,” Havrisik said. “It’s the same thing. Literally. I treat every kick the same.”
For the past few months, he’s been working with former Arizona kicker Alex Zendejas.
The way Havrisik sees it, he faced a lot of adversity in college, and he’d be crazy to give up the opportunity to chase his NFL dream.
“I had three head coaches, a lot of coaching staff changes, not a lot of the same routine through my college career, so it was hard to get in the flow,” Havrisik said. “A lot of different stuff thrown at me every year. Injuries, changing plans.”
Havrisik is a confident young man.
The way he’s been kicking, he feels like he should have earned a shot already.
“I think I killed every workout,” Havrisik said. “I don’t think it was a progressive thing.”
The Colts planned on making their decision late in the week.
Friday is Frank Reich’s final media availability, and the Colts could obviously make their decision after that.
Only time will tell if Havrisik is able to make good on this chance.
#HelmetHornsMatter
“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.
“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood
