Nate Kaeding
Nate Kaeding
Nathaniel James Kaedingis an American former college and professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football Leaguefor nine seasons. He played the majority of his career with the NFL's San Diego Chargers. Kaeding retired after the 2012 season as the second most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, having made 86.2 percent of his career attempts...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth26 March 1982
rookie worse
There's only one thing worse than being a rookie; that's being a rookie kicker.
behind biggest last learned months six week
I think this is behind me now. Something I learned the last six months and this last week especially is that I have to be my biggest fan,
football good life order terms understand
You have to have a good perspective, not just on football, but on life. You really have to have your life in order in terms of what's important to you. I had to understand that football was important to me, but it wasn't my life.
forward future responsibility
There is nothing I can do to ever make up for that kick, ... But that happened. I take responsibility for that. In the future there are going to be opportunities, and I look forward to that.
balls excuse kicked rain
I've kicked hundreds of balls in the rain before, there's no excuse for it.
against ahead bowl field football gauge slip sort thinking thoughts trying
It was probably just a slip on his part. I have no idea what he was thinking or what he was trying to say. If it was any sort of gauge on their preparedness for the game, I think we went ahead and reconfirmed those thoughts out on the football field against them in that bowl game.
against ahead bowl field football gauge slip sort thinking thoughts trying
It was probably just a slip on his part, ... I have no idea what he was thinking or what he was trying to say. If it was any sort of gauge on their preparedness for the game, I think we went ahead and reconfirmed those thoughts out on the football field against them in that bowl game.
came coach couple focal game guys laughable matter maybe played point team
A couple guys on the team joked about it, and coach maybe came up to me and joked about it, ... It really wasn't too much of a focal point on the team, but it was a laughable matter to me. It just played right into the way we were approaching the game -- 'We're nobodies, we're just these small-town guys from Iowa.'
days eight six tough wait
It's tough enough to wait six days for another chance. I had to wait eight months.
definitely good kick lucky treatment
I was lucky enough to get it loosened up (thanks to a medicinal shot). It was definitely there, but I could still kick on it. With some good treatment on it, it shouldn't be any problem.
anyone days doubt field football good great knowing matter saying walked
I look back at my days at Iowa, and we walked out on the football field with those guys, and we had no doubt we were going to win. It didn't matter what anyone was saying or doing. We walked out there knowing what we had was good enough to win. That's a great feeling.
act coaches couple toward
It's not about what I'm going to say or how they're going to act toward me or what the coaches are going to say. I've got to go out and make the kicks. It's about what I do in those couple opportunities I get on Sunday.
amount call couple course difficult giving granted league next performance playing poorly recall remember short sort time wee whatever
Granted it's preseason or what have you, but I can't remember giving that performance going back to Pee Wee League or Little League, whatever you want to call it. I can't recall playing that poorly in that short amount of time in any sort of game. I've set a difficult course for myself the next couple weeks, but I'm not one to back down from it.
reality two missing
Everybody knows you're going to miss some. It's just the reality and the probability of it. It's the ultimate paradox for a kicker. You go out expecting to make every kick, but you also know it's probably not going to happen. So you have these two conflicting thoughts and realities. The really good kickers are the ones who can process that information. That's what I'm learning to do.