I know first hand how Auburn Kicker Wes Byrum feels right now and for the rest of his life after making the kick of his dreams to win the BCS National Championship 22-19 over the Oregon Ducks! Every kid fantasizes about winning the Super Bowl, World Series, or the Final Four.
It was August 30, 1987 at the Kick Off Classic where I kicked three fourth quarter field goals in the windy Meadowlands. The game winner was with three seconds left for Tennessee to defeat Iowa 23-22.
I remember it vividly as if it were yesterday. I had confidence with two successful field goals already in the fourth quarter. I thought we were going to run it in for a touch down just as Auburn's Michael Dyer seemingly scored. The field goal ended up as a chip shot of 19 yards which is only one yard shy of an extra point. The difficulty came from the narrow angle with the ball on left hash mark. All I thought about was keeping my head down and making square impact on the ball.
As I ran out onto the field the crowd noise softly faded. Iowa called a time out to ice me and screamed profanities and insults in attempts to rattle me. We lined up again, my focus kicked in to muffle all the noise, I nodded to Lee England who signaled Nick Zecchino to snap the ball.
Suddenly as in slow motion, I repeated the steps to the ball in my windup for kicking soccer style the same as practiced thousands and thousands of times year round every day, every year as far back as I can remember. A slow second or two later, I looked up to see the ball tumbling softly off the net and then the roar of the crowd returned to my ears!
It's good signaled the back judge. Extreme exuberance overtook me as teammates tackled and piled on me in celebration. The warm feeling has been with me ever since and I am often reminded by the friends and fans that I connect with.
It was a big game to me and our team as it was a bowl game and the only football game on TV as it was a week before the regular season started. My hat is off in respect to Auburn Kicker Wes Byrum. A huge dream has come true for him and he will have a lifetime to cherish the moment!
- Phil Reich
PGAgolfArt.com
Richimage.net
Additional info: Wes Byrum from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and that was my town in '87 as listed in the media guide. Both our winning kicks were 19 yards. Wes Byrum's long field goal is 52 and mine was 51. Amazingly, it was against Auburn. My brother Ken was also educated at Tennessee and eventually was working as catering manager at Auburn University during the 2008 season when we attended the Auburn Tennessee game and I took professional photos.
**NOTICE** Professionally recognized news agencies may use article in entirety or part with standard credit.
Everyone else, including blogs and social sharing, may use part or complete reposting as long as links are included with credit to author.
Sources:
Phil Reich, UT Vols Kicker 1987, UTAD, Auburn official site.
Comments
Post a Comment