It Was a Season of Learning for Ali Haji-Sheikh

At the University of Michigan, Ali Haji-Sheikh’s betrothed, Michele, was a resident director in a large dormitory. “She dealt with a lot of suicidal people, a lot of depressed people,” Haji-Sheikh said. “She’s very good at counseling people.”

Michele Haji-Sheikh had a difficult time playing psychiatrist last year during the biggest crisis of her husband’s kicking life. Haji-Sheikh was going through the most trying time of his brief pro career, but he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to depress his wife.

“I kept all my problems to myself,” he said. “My wife probably wishes I’d take it home with me.”

Haji-Sheikh had much to keep inside his 5-11, 160-pound body. In the first nine games of the season, he was 6-for-16 in field goals; he missed kicks of 20, 27 and 39 yards and didn’t make a field goal longer than 41 yards. He missed two extra points in one game. He was booed. Lustily. The newspapers called him “Haji-Shank.” The fans called him worse; much worse.

Haji-Sheikh did rally, hitting 15 of 22 field goals in his last nine games, including the playoffs. Still, for the regular season, Haji-Sheikh ranked 27th among 28 NFL kickers in efficiency (17 of 33, .515). He was 5 of 16 from 40 yards or more.

“Overall, I learned a lot,” said Haji-Sheikh, who set a club record with 127 points in 1983. “I finished the last half-season hitting about 75 percent of my kicks, so I was satisfied with that. As for the first part of the year, I don’t think about it. What happened, happened.”

There are convenient excuses for the horrid early showing, but the Giants don’t care to hear them. Scott Brunner held for placements in 1983 and was traded to Denver. John Mistler held in training camp in 1984 and was released. Jeff Rutledge got the job at the last minute during the preseason last fall and had to learn a new task. The snapper changed from Chris Foote in 1983 to Rich Umphrey in 1984.

“That threw things off early,” Haji-Sheikh said. “You’ve got to have total trust in the holder and just worry about yourself, not the holder. But Jeff improved. After three weeks, he became a good holder.”

But after three weeks, Haji-Sheikh was still missing (from 39 yards against Washington and 30 against the Rams). The Shank quips started. “It bothered me to a small degree,” he said. “Guys who write that crap are trying to sell papers, trying to make stories. Some writers are of that particular vein .... But they didn’t know what was going on. They didn’t know what was happening.”

Coach Bill Parcells said: “Ali is a lot like LT (Lawrence Taylor). He did so well that one year 1983 that he built high expectations. Anything less than that and people say, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ But you’ve got to kick about 70 percent to be effective in this league.”

Haji-Sheikh will miss today’s game with the Jets because of a strained hamstring, but he said he will be fit for the opener Sept. 8 with Philadelphia. He’s not thinking about a 6-for-16 start. He’s thinking more along the lines of his 4-of-5 exhibition season so far.

“This is the best camp--college or pro--I’ve ever had,” he said. “I feel good. My kicks are straight.”