Folk a Hero to Cowboys Fans
By Charean Williams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Jun. 6--IRVING -- Nine-year-olds Jacob Alford and Collin Killough sat in a suite at American Airlines Center during a Dallas Mavericks game in January, bemoaning the Dallas Cowboys' upset playoff loss to the New York Giants.
A man seated in the next suite overheard the boys and offered his two cents.
When Alford asked the man if he was a Cowboys fan, the man identified himself as "the Cowboys' kicker."
"So you're telling me," Alford asked, eyes wide, "that you're Nick Folk?"
Not so long ago, kicker was a four-letter word in Dallas. The Cowboys had so many -- nine from 1999-2006 -- that it was a "who's not" of kickers.
Now, the Cowboys' kicker is a Folk hero.
Folk, a sixth-round draft pick last season, made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. As rich of a history as the Cowboys have, they have had only two other Pro Bowl kickers -- Efren Herrera in 1977 and Rafael Septien in '81.
That's why for the first time since 1996 -- Chris Boniol's last season in Dallas -- Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones enters a season comfortable with his kicker.
"What makes me feel good is how he performed in critical situations," Jones said of Folk. "For years around here, we had a revolving door when it came to kickers. I decided to change that [by signing veteran Mike Vanderjagt in 2006] and got bit when we made a big commitment in one....I really like the one we have now."
Cowboys fans fell in love with Folk after his 53-yard field goal on the final play beat the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.
Folk scored 131 points, third-most in team history and a rookie record. He made 26 of 31 field goal attempts, a club-rookie record .839 percentage. His 26 field goals also was a Cowboys' rookie best.
So what does Folk do for an encore?
"Not miss a kick, I guess," Folk said. "That's the plan right now."
That's happened four times in NFL history, including Vanderjagt's 37-for-37 season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2003. Boniol holds the Cowboys' record, making 27 of 28 attempts in 1995.
Three of Folk's misses last season were from 50-plus yards, and a 23-yard attempt was blocked. His other miss came from 28 yards. Folk was 14-of-14 from 30-49 yards.
"I'm a perfectionist," Folk said, "except for maybe keeping my house clean."
Folk has spent the off-season working on kickoffs. The Cowboys ranked in the middle of the pack last season, with opponents averaging 23.01 yards per kickoff return. (The NFL average was 22.69.) On 93 kickoffs, Folk reached the end zone only 16 times and had four touchbacks.
"He should be stronger this year, and that's something we're talking about the kickoffs, trying to drive the kickoffs a little more and get them a little deeper," Cowboys special teams coach Bruce Read said.
Otherwise, Read said, the Cowboys just need "a repeat performance" from Folk.
Last year, Folk had to beat out Martin Gramatica to win the job. This year, Folk is the Cowboys' only kicker; they didn't sign another, even as camp fodder.
He was that good last year.
"This point, yeah, it's different," Folk said. "But I still feel like I need to be perfect to stay on the team. That's my goal: to stay here for a while. If I'm perfect, I don't think they're going to let me go."
KICKING CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED
In the eight seasons before Nick Folk arrived, the Cowboys used nine kickers and were one of the worst in the NFL in field-goal success:
Year Kicker(s) FG FG Pct. TP 1999 Richie Cunningham (12), Eddie Murray (4) 19-31 .613 98 2000 Tim Seder 25-33 .758 108 2001 Jon Hilbert (8), Tim Seder (8) 22-33 .667 96 2002 Billy Cundiff 12-19 .632 61 2003 Billy Cundiff 23-29 .793 99 2004 Billy Cundiff 20-26 .769 91 2005 Jose Cortez (7), Billy Cundiff (6), Shaun Suisham (3) 20-28 .714 95 2006 Mike Vanderjagt (10), Martin Gramatica (6) 20-28 .714 104 2007 Nick Folk 26-31 .839 131
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Jun. 6--IRVING -- Nine-year-olds Jacob Alford and Collin Killough sat in a suite at American Airlines Center during a Dallas Mavericks game in January, bemoaning the Dallas Cowboys' upset playoff loss to the New York Giants.
A man seated in the next suite overheard the boys and offered his two cents.
When Alford asked the man if he was a Cowboys fan, the man identified himself as "the Cowboys' kicker."
"So you're telling me," Alford asked, eyes wide, "that you're Nick Folk?"
Not so long ago, kicker was a four-letter word in Dallas. The Cowboys had so many -- nine from 1999-2006 -- that it was a "who's not" of kickers.
Now, the Cowboys' kicker is a Folk hero.
Folk, a sixth-round draft pick last season, made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. As rich of a history as the Cowboys have, they have had only two other Pro Bowl kickers -- Efren Herrera in 1977 and Rafael Septien in '81.
That's why for the first time since 1996 -- Chris Boniol's last season in Dallas -- Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones enters a season comfortable with his kicker.
"What makes me feel good is how he performed in critical situations," Jones said of Folk. "For years around here, we had a revolving door when it came to kickers. I decided to change that [by signing veteran Mike Vanderjagt in 2006] and got bit when we made a big commitment in one....I really like the one we have now."
Cowboys fans fell in love with Folk after his 53-yard field goal on the final play beat the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.
Folk scored 131 points, third-most in team history and a rookie record. He made 26 of 31 field goal attempts, a club-rookie record .839 percentage. His 26 field goals also was a Cowboys' rookie best.
So what does Folk do for an encore?
"Not miss a kick, I guess," Folk said. "That's the plan right now."
That's happened four times in NFL history, including Vanderjagt's 37-for-37 season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2003. Boniol holds the Cowboys' record, making 27 of 28 attempts in 1995.
Three of Folk's misses last season were from 50-plus yards, and a 23-yard attempt was blocked. His other miss came from 28 yards. Folk was 14-of-14 from 30-49 yards.
"I'm a perfectionist," Folk said, "except for maybe keeping my house clean."
Folk has spent the off-season working on kickoffs. The Cowboys ranked in the middle of the pack last season, with opponents averaging 23.01 yards per kickoff return. (The NFL average was 22.69.) On 93 kickoffs, Folk reached the end zone only 16 times and had four touchbacks.
"He should be stronger this year, and that's something we're talking about the kickoffs, trying to drive the kickoffs a little more and get them a little deeper," Cowboys special teams coach Bruce Read said.
Otherwise, Read said, the Cowboys just need "a repeat performance" from Folk.
Last year, Folk had to beat out Martin Gramatica to win the job. This year, Folk is the Cowboys' only kicker; they didn't sign another, even as camp fodder.
He was that good last year.
"This point, yeah, it's different," Folk said. "But I still feel like I need to be perfect to stay on the team. That's my goal: to stay here for a while. If I'm perfect, I don't think they're going to let me go."
KICKING CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED
In the eight seasons before Nick Folk arrived, the Cowboys used nine kickers and were one of the worst in the NFL in field-goal success:
Year Kicker(s) FG FG Pct. TP 1999 Richie Cunningham (12), Eddie Murray (4) 19-31 .613 98 2000 Tim Seder 25-33 .758 108 2001 Jon Hilbert (8), Tim Seder (8) 22-33 .667 96 2002 Billy Cundiff 12-19 .632 61 2003 Billy Cundiff 23-29 .793 99 2004 Billy Cundiff 20-26 .769 91 2005 Jose Cortez (7), Billy Cundiff (6), Shaun Suisham (3) 20-28 .714 95 2006 Mike Vanderjagt (10), Martin Gramatica (6) 20-28 .714 104 2007 Nick Folk 26-31 .839 131
posted by The Gryphon at 1:57 PM
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