Destroyers Getting a Kick out of Steve McLaughlin
Tom Ando
Thursday May 23, 2002
There was Bjorn Nitmo in 1999, and Mike Black in 2000, but in 2001, the Destroyers luck ended. First came Murdock Proctor who didn’t even make it out of the preseason.
Then there was Pete Elezovic, a proven AFL veteran. The only thing he proved was that he didn’t deserve to be on the team after hitting one of seven field goals and just seven of thirteen extra points. Next up was Nate DeWolfe, whom had no kicking experience, which proved costly as he led the Destroyers to a two-point loss in Carolina by missing two field goals and five extra points. Brett Gorden jumped aboard next, and was the most consistent, going six for seventeen on field goals, and 43 of 51 on extra points. Respectable stats, but with Ray Bentley looking to take the Destroyers to Arena Bowl XVI, respectable wasn’t enough.
Enter Steve McLaughlin, a four-year veteran in the Arena Football League, who had been a part of two straight Arena Bowl teams with the Nashville Kats.
“Ray Bentley, plain and simple,” said McLaughlin, on why he chose Buffalo. “He called me on the phone and told me about what he was planning on putting together and it sounded really exciting and I wanted to be a part of it. He sounded really positive. I talked to a bunch of different teams, and just talking to him on the phone sold me.”
“Ray’s been to the top of the mountain in the NFL, he knows what it takes to be a champion, and so that’s why it’s nice to be here to kind of follow along. I think that is an arm wrestling match, Ray would be able to take me down, it’d be close, but I think he’d get me in the end.”
What Bentley had put together was a team. By adding Lamont Cooper, Bret Cooper, Thomas Bailey, Corey Johnson and Fred McNair, the Buffalo Destroyers were immediately contenders.
 Steve McLaughlin in his days with the Nashville Kats Image courtesy of Matthew Whiteshield |
McLaughlin’s career has been full of accolades ever since his college days at Arizona. In a 29-0 win over Miami in the 1994 Fiesta Bowl, he broke several records of the annual game. He still ranks that as his favorite football memory. In 1994, he won the prestigious Lou Groza award given to the best kicker in college every year.
“It was a big honor,” said McLaughlin when reminiscing of the accomplishment. “A lot of it had to do with being in Arizona. I was real lucky with a good snapper and a good holder and a lot of good situations. It was just a great honor and it was nice to be in Arizona.”
While at Arizona, McLaughlin started a band called “Pet the Fish” which he is still the lead singer. The band has even opened for Dave Matthews Band.
“There was like 2,000 people, and the club was just packed out the door. That was the most fun time, plus the camaraderie that our band members had, we’re all really good friends. We were really lucky to have such a fun run.”
He would later be named to the “Lindy’s Collegiate Team of the Decade” in 2000 as well as being elected Arizona’s Sports Hall of fame.
With the honors from college said and done, McLaughlin’s next big accomplishment was something that rarely happens, getting drafted on day one of the NFL draft.
“It felt great, the Rams called me and told me they were going to draft me and I saw my name on there, so it was a really good thing. Then I went out and mowed the lawn.”
Although McLaughlin’s stint with the Rams didn’t last long, his passion for the game has, and in that, the game of Arena Football found a great match.
“I enjoy this more (than playing in the NFL),” says McLaughlin. “There’s more notoriety attached to being in the NFL and all that, but it’s more challenging in this league, especially for kickers because those poles are so skinny. Plus the games are so close and so much fun that I enjoy this. The paychecks aren’t as enjoyable, but the actual playing, that’s more fun, and I’m happy right here, right now. I don’t think any guy would turn down a chance to play in the NFL, but right now, I am happy to be in Buffalo and grateful that Ray thought enough of me to bring me in here. I’m hoping to get it done and help the team out.”
One of the reasons McLaughlin likes playing for the Destroyers is how much his coach respects him.
“He’s a lunatic. He’s out of his mind. He’s a typical kicker,” said Bentley. “I love the guy to death though. I think before the season’s over he’s going to rescue some ball games for us. It’s a great comfort for me knowing that we have Steve and he’s going to execute the things we ask him to execute. It’s been great having him so far.”
Great is exactly how McLaughlin has performed. He is 32 of 34 on extra points, although he is concerned about being just 3 of 8 on field goals.
“I don’t feel like I’m kicking bad right now, because my extra points. I’ve been hitting those solid; and my kickoffs I’ve been hitting solid,” said McLaughlin. “A couple of the misses I had on field goals were really, really close. It’s just frustrating that they didn’t go in. It’s something that I want to correct, because we’re going to need those as the season goes on.”
On a team loaded with weapons, field goal opportunities don’t come as much as they would elsewhere, but to McLaughlin extra points are just as important.
“Every point is huge, so when my number is called I just want to go out there and do it.”
It’s that attitude from his kicker that gives Ray Bentley great pride in saying that he has
the best kicker in the Arena Football League.
"Touchdown" Tom Ando is a free lance writer from South Buffalo, NY and has been covering the Arena Football League in one capacity or another since the 2000 season, when he was 17 years old. Tom Currently writes for Sports & Leisure Magazine in Buffalo covering the NLL's Buffalo Bandits and NCAA Division I football. In 2001, Tom was the only writer in the country to cover the Houston "Travelin' " Thunderbears, where he befriended his mentor John F. "Hondo" Hahn.
