Kickin’ It, Day Two: Gig Goes to Groshelle
Andrew Mason
Friday February 28, 2003
Usually, they would glance at the field, on one knee, watching the proceedings. Sometimes, they’d each sit down and lean back, as if they were going to grab some sun in spite of the fact that the Teflon roof creates an environment that bears resemblance to a cloudy, but dry day.
At just before 12:30 p.m., their time came. They’d taken turns kicking extra points and kickoffs much earlier during the practice as part of the team’s overall special-teams work, but now the field was theirs. Each would look steadier than they had the day before, each would connect on a higher percentage of kicks than they had during the five-way tryout on Wednesday. Each would also impress Crush head coach Bob Beers, who watched from various spots around the field.
“Both of them did pretty darn good. They were impressive,” Beers said.
With a grin, he then turned to one of two reporters quizzing him following the practice.
“Who did you like?” he asked.
The reporter’s opinion wouldn’t matter, but it’s part of what Beers successfully cultivates, a relationship with those who cover the team that is cooperative, chummy and often filled with laughter. But the opinions that truly mattered were those of the men that Beers said would gather together later in the afternoon to discuss the kickers – team president John Elway, director of football operations Mike Maciszewski, special-teams coach Fred Gayles, and others. Also providing input would be former Broncos kicker David Treadwell, a four-season teammate of Elway’s.
By 1 p.m., the Crush’s brain trust had dispersed, all making the 25-mile trip back to the team’s headquarters on the other side of Denver, in the northern suburb of Commerce City. By 3 p.m., the decision was revealed – Groshelle had the job, completing a meandering journey from Richmond through Chicago to a full-time AFL kicking gig.
Groshelle showed solid distance and altitude on his kickoffs, but his strength proved to be on extra points, where he was perfect throughout the course of the two-day tryout. His success there steered precisely into what Beers wanted out of his newest player.
“Our biggest concern is, ‘Can we make an extra point consistently?’ That`s where we get ourselves in a jam; we score and we`re down 7-6,” Beers said. “Then you`re in a chase all the time and we`re sick of chasing. Right now we`ve just got to find someone that can just pop them through for us.”
The Crush hopes Groshelle will do just that.
Andrew Mason was at the Tampa Bay Storm`s first home game on June 1, 1991 and has followed the game ever since. While in college, he served as content editor and co-founder of The Storm Shelter, a Web site which covered the Tampa Bay Storm on the Internet from 1996-99. He also volunteered with the team`s media relations department in 1998 and currently contributes to ColoradoCrush.com. He's covered the NFL for various on-line outlets since 1999.
