Monday, May 2, 2011
Posted: 2:07 p.m.
By Ray Didinger
CSNPhilly.com
His name was James Patrick Feller, but everyone called him Happy. At least they did until he came to Philadelphia.
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Happy Feller was the kicker the Eagles selected in the fourth round of the 1971 draft, the same round in which Andy Reid drafted Nebraska kicker Alex Henery on Saturday. It brought back memories.
Like Henery, Feller set records on the college level. He played in a lot of big games and made a lot of clutch kicks for the University of Texas back in a day when the Southwest Conference dominated college football. There was nothing bigger than Texas-Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. It was a Sports Illustrated cover every year.
The Eagles looked at Fellers stats, saw the success he had kicking for the Longhorns and figured he would have no trouble graduating to the NFL. When they selected Feller eyebrows were raised because kickers were rarely drafted in those days and certainly not in the fourth round. The Eagles assured everyone they knew what they were doing.
This young man has ice water in his veins, said head coach Jerry Williams.
As it turned out, Feller didnt even make it through his rookie year. He was cut after nine games. He made just six of 20 field goal attempts.
So much for ice water.
The scene I remember was the locker room at RFK Stadium in Washington. The Eagles and Redskins had played to a 7-7 tie, but Feller had a chance to win the game with a short field goal in the closing seconds. He missed the kick wide left.
Feller was near tears in the locker room. As reporters approached, safety Bill Bradley, a fellow Longhorn who functioned as Fellers holder and big brother, stepped in. Leave him alone, he snapped, shooing the crowd away.
A week later, Feller was gone, replaced by Tom Dempsey, who was claimed on waivers from New Orleans. The following year, Feller was in New Orleans kicking for the Saints. They just exchanged places on the kickers carousel. You take my job, Ill take yours.
It is a tough life and the pressure is enormous. Lots of guys have strong legs, but if they cant handle the pressure they wont last. Some guys have what it takes and others dont. Some can grow into it, but they have to be given the chance. In pro football, it is not easy to find people with patience.
Case in point: Mark Moseley.
Moseley was the kicker the Eagles cut to make room for Feller. He was a 14th-round draft pick in 1970, a handsome Texan who arrived in Philadelphia wearing jeans and cowboy boots. He beat out veteran Sam Baker to make the team, but he had an erratic rookie year (14 of 25 on field goals, 25 of 28 extra points), which prompted the drafting of Feller.
When the Eagles cut Moseley in 1971, he went to Houston where he kicked for parts of two seasons. He was released again and was out of football for a year. In 1974, he got a tryout with Washington and made the team. He wound up kicking there for 12 years and in 1982 became the first and only kicker to win the NFLs Most Valuable Player Award. He retired as Washingtons all-time leading scorer (1,206 points).
Moseley learned the ropes and developed into one of the best kickers in NFL history. It had nothing to do with his leg or kicking technique; he always had that. He just needed to work on his mental game and develop the confidence necessary to kick in the big leagues.
Happy Feller never reached that point. He played in just 12 games with the Saints and made 10 of 23 field goal attempts before he was released. Unlike Moseley, he never got another shot. He went back to Texas and the last I heard he was working for the phone company.
It is all about the pressure. Feller rarely missed a kick in practice, but in games, it was a different story. Having kicked in big games at Texas didnt help. Kicking in the NFL is a different animal. The stakes are higher, the fans are tougher, the teammates are older and more distant.
It is a lonely feeling, standing there, the only clean jersey on the field, lining up a kick that either will win or lose the game. There is no way to practice that. There is no way to simulate that pressure. You dont know if a guy can do it until he does it for real.
Thats the risk involved with replacing a veteran like David Akers with a rookie. Akers demonstrated over the course of 12 seasons that he can kick in the big time. His regular season field goal percentage (81.9) is proof of that. He can handle cold weather and windy venues like those in the NFC East.
He missed two field goals in the NFC playoff loss to Green Bay and that was a painful way for the season to end. However, if you look at Akers year as a whole, it was a good one. He led all NFL kickers in points (143) and his field goal percentage (84.2) was very good. He set a career high with 23 touchbacks, which says that even at age 36, he still has a lot of pop in his leg.
But the Eagles seem prepared to push all that aside and bring in a rookie. Alex Henery is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history (.895 field goal percentage) so talent is not the issue. Clearly, he has that. But can he deal with the pressure of the NFL? Can he deal with the pressure of playing in Philadelphia?
The Eagles have been proven right most of the time when they make these decisions, shedding veterans they feel have nothing left. But they have guessed wrong, too, most notably in the case of Brian Dawkins. This is a very risky call. Just ask Happy Feller.
E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net
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