NY Giants’ Giant Kick

“You're only as good as your last kick”-Lawrence Tynes.  Indeed.  It is undeniable that the Scottish born, 33 year old was the reason for the NY Giants win this past weekend during the AFC NFC championship game.  Say what you want, the most brilliant football game ever could have been played; however the culminating “do or die” moment came down to a soccer style kicker.  I take great pleasure in that.

Tynes shares his # 9 jersey with soccer greats such as the former Brazilian legend Ronaldo and every little girl’s soccer idol, Mia Hamm.  He spent his youth eating, living, and breathing soccer.  You may be surprised to know that he did not play a lick of American football until he was about 16 or 17 years old, when he was asked to try out for a kicker position at Milton High School in Florida.

That’s where his devotion to soccer ended, which marked the humble beginnings of a very promising football career.  Surprisingly enough, Tynes was also a walk on for his college football team at Troy State University.

So what’s this snapshot of Tynes have to do with anything?  Well for one, it shows the influence soccer had on molding that perfect, game clinching moment every crazed football fan experienced while watching on the edge of his/her seat Sunday night. The Ravens’ Billy Cundiff may have fared better if he had had a similar soccer background as Tynes.  Of course, that’s a bold statement to make, but an enjoyable thought to soccer fans like myself nonetheless. 

My gripe is with football fans not giving the sport of soccer the respect it deserves.  That’s not to say all football fans don’t, but many share that same sentiment. So, the next time you see a kicker begin taking three steps back and two steps to the side, you gotta wonder where he learned how to kick the sh#$ outta the ball like that.

To quote a comment I heard while listening to Boomer and Carton on the radio the other day, “Isn’t it terrible that two important football games came down to soccer players?!”

Well, no…I think it’s great!