CFL.ca
Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
See ball. Kick ball through uprights.
It seems simple enough.
But if kicking field goals were as easy as it seemed, everyone would be able to do it. The truth is that most football teams go through kickers like Elizabeth Taylor goes through husbands, and when they do find a reliable one they don’t let them go.
So imagine how difficult it is to learn how to kick a field goal in a matter of weeks and then stand in front of thousands of fans with the chance to kick for a million dollars on the line.
That’s exactly what Kent Wingert and Darrell Roach will be doing when they take the field at halftime of Friday’s game between the Tiger-Cats and Eskimos at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Both are semi-finalists in the Wendy’s Kick For A Million contest and will have the chance to advance to the finals when Hamilton travels to Toronto next week, to have an opportunity to win a million dollars and other great prizes.
First, they’ll have to brush up on their kicking game.
“I haven’t done it for 15 or 20 years so it’s actually quite a bit more difficult than I remember,” said Wingert.
“Now that I’ve had a chance to practice every other day it is getting easier,” he said.
Wingert was lucky enough to get some one-on-one time with Ticats kicker Sandro DeAngelis this week and feels like some of the things he learned will translate into on-field success.
“We went though some technical stuff and he had me doing some drills, and the results were really encouraging,” said Wingert.
“I’m getting greater distance on the ball with less effort so that’s a good sign,” he added.
Both contestants will get the opportunity to practice at Ivor Wynne with the one man who knows its fickle winds best, Paul Osbaldiston.
“Getting a chance to work with Paul will be amazing, I can’t imagine anyone who knows about kicking on that field better,” said Wingert.
If anything, the instruction from one of the best kickers in the league has given Wingert the confidence he needs to hit the ultimate goal.
“Before I started practicing I thought my maximum was 40 yards but now I really feel like I can hit it from 50,” he said.
Hopefully the contestants have been paying attention in their lessons because as they have all found out, kicking the ball through the uprights is harder than it looks.
