Kickers Are Seemingly in a No-Win Situation : Thomas, Mojsiejenko Must Deal With Pressure Like ‘Real’ Football Players

Sometimes, it seems, the placekicker just can’t win.

Consider what happened to Ralf Mojsiejenko recently. The Charger rookie, who handles punts and kickoffs, was recruited as an emergency holder for extra points and field goals. The reason? He had a little idle time at practice, and it would be less disruptive to train him than a “real” player.

Mojsiejenko took it in stride. Kickers, who always seem to be on the outside looking in, are the exception to almost every rule and assumption in pro football. The only quality they have in common with other players is the urgent need to produce under pressure.

A strong, supple leg and a good sense of direction are invaluable, but they mean nothing if a kicker can’t keep his wits. Just ask Mojsiejenko, or Rolf Benirschke, or Bob Thomas.

Bob Thomas? Isn’t he the guy who missed three extra points Sunday against Seattle? The bum! Send him back to Chicago! Feed him to William Perry!

Thomas is bearing up under the strain nicely, thank you. After being released by Chicago two weeks ago, he was signed by the Chargers last week to replace Benirschke, placed on injured reserve for at least a month with a pulled groin.

Thomas, a 10-year veteran of the National Football League, made 22 of 28 field goal attempts last year and was told by Coach Mike Ditka he was one of the main reasons the Bears reached the NFC Championship game.

His reward, as he attended off-season classes at Loyola University Law School, was watching the Bears draft kicker Kevin Butler of Georgia on the fourth round. He suspected the worst, but had a productive training camp, only to be cut at the last moment.

Now he is in San Diego, replacing Benirschke, a local institution and a man he has known and liked for years. Thomas doesn’t exactly feel guilty about it, but he doesn’t really cherish the notion of possibly being the man who will put Benirschke in the unemployment line, either.

It’s a complicated set of emotions kickers have to wrestle with, which is another thing that sets them apart. Life for a tackle is simple, black-and-white, bash or be bashed. There is no ambiguity and nothing very civilized about life in the pits. For the kicker, football is more like real life. Deeper and messier.

“I was fifth in the NFL in field goal accuracy (78.6%) last year, with the same percentage as Tony Franklin,” Thomas said. “So what happens? Tony gets a huge new contract and I get released.

“I knew I could get another job and I never doubted that God has a plan for my life, but I never thought I would wind up in San Diego. I’ve been injury-free in my career, except for a pulled hamstring, but I do have a sense of what Rolf is going through, and it just makes you wonder how much someone has to be tested.

“I hope and pray Rolf gets well. Kickers have to have a live-and-let-live attitude toward one another.”

Thomas could ask for a little compassion in the matter of those missed extra points Sunday. Only one of them was his fault, really. It happened when his plant foot slipped in the dirt portion of the infield. The other two were blocked. Try making an extra point with 270-pound Joe Nash dancing on your helmet.

“I’m not one to make excuses,” Thomas said. “I’ve kicked on all kinds of surfaces in my 10 years. The next game here, I’ll wear a different shoe that gives me better traction. And I’m sure Ralf will be more comfortable as a holder, and I won’t have to kick the laces.”

The Chargers were in the uncomfortable position of breaking in a new kicker and a new holder at the same time. Ed Luther, the holder the last five years, fled to the United States Football League and was replaced by Bruce Mathison, who was waived after the final exhibition game, leaving the team with no experienced holder.

Consideration for the vacancy was given to Dan Fouts, Pete Holohan, Wes Chandler, Eric Sievers and Lionel James. But, according to special teams coach Marv Braden, the duty was awarded to Mojsiejenko because he had time in practice to take 100 snaps a day.

“We have confidence in Bob Thomas and Ralf,” Braden said. “Our situation is a bit unusual now, but I know our protection is going to get better and we won’t have more kicks blocked. I think our offensive linemen were embarrassed by what happened. We’ll do nothing but get better.”

Braden also is going to have to think about what happens when Benirschke gets well. He had kidney stones and missed two games last year. Benny Ricardo replaced him, but was released when Benirschke returned.

The Chargers, wanting to put a little heat on Benirschke, drafted Mojsiejenko last spring and let it be known the rookie would challenge both Rolf and incumbent punter Maury Buford for jobs. Buford, ironically, wound up in Chicago after Mojsiejenko won the punting job.

If recent history is any guide, Thomas could be out of a job when Benirschke’s groin heals. But it may not be so simple. The Chargers have a very long list of players on injured reserve, and they are only permitted to reactivate five of them during the season.

“I’m in no way suggesting we won’t bring Rolf back, but we have to look at the total picture a month from now,” Braden said. “How many moves will we have left? Would it strengthen us to have Rolf back? How is Bob Thomas going to be kicking at the time? There is a lot to consider, and we just can’t address it right now.”

Thomas is ready for any eventuality.

“Football is only 10 or 15 years out of your life,” he said. “The only thing I can control in football is how I kick. I suspect Rolf will regain the job, but I can’t worry about it. I’m not pulling against him, because I think the world needs more people like him.”

Thomas is a bit less charitable toward his former employers, the Bears. He doesn’t hold a grudge, but he wasn’t thrilled by the way things developed in Chicago, either.

“It was bizarre, really,” he said. “I have to admit I was shocked. I’m not naive, but I talked to Coach (Mike) Ditka after Butler was drafted, and he said that wasn’t his choice. He told me it was a wasted draft choice unless Butler beat me out convincingly in training camp.

“I don’t think Ditka was lying to me, because he said the same things to the press . . . but I still have no idea what their decision to cut me was based on. I left without bitterness or animosity.”

Ultimately, a kicker’s best friend is his leg, and that didn’t betray Thomas. He came to San Diego for a tryout and won the job over two less-experienced men. Even three botched extra points in his debut didn’t spoil his outlook.

“Maybe it was a blessing,” he said. “The kicking game will get more emphasis this week.”

Kickers, after all, must have their own logic to survive.

BOB THOMAS’ STATISTICS

Year PAT Pct. FG Pct. 1984 35-37 94.6 22-28 78.6 *Career 245-267 91.8 128-205 62.4

*Thomas has had 12 of his career point-after kicks blocked.