Septien Discovers Even Good Kickers Have Their Bad Days

In all the sports literature produced over the years, there has never been a satisfactory explanation given as to why people cliff dive, pole vault or place kick--especially the latter.

Cliff diving and pole vaulting can have a very detrimental affect on one’s body. Place kicking, however, can mess with your mind.

The NFL road is littered with the memories of kickers who found they were unable to produce under the pressure of having to decide the size of their teammates’ paychecks.

No matter how reliable a kicker might be over the long haul, a slump will inevitably appear. And when it does it can quite possibly be a crisis moment.

Such a moment may be now for a fellow who has been one of the most consistently productive fellows in the league.

A kicker knows he has achieved a large degree of success when even his teammates take him for granted--much less the fans.

That’s the way it has become with Rafael Septien.

The start of Septien’s career was typical in NFL circles. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1977 and cut before the season started.

The Rams picked him up and Septien rewarded them by having an excellent season. But a year later the Rams thought Frank Corral was better so they dropped Septien.

He landed in Dallas and promptly turned into one of the best kickers in the league.

This is his eighth year with the Cowboys and they have been happy ones.

During that time he met and married a beautiful lady with a splendid singing voice. Linda Septien makes occasional appearances at Dallas Mavericks’ basketball games to sing “God Bless America,” and knocks the crowd on its ear every time. Last year the Septiens had their first child, a boy.

During the last four seasons Septien tried 71 field goals of 40 yards or less and he missed only four of them. Some kickers don’t have that kind of percentage on extra points.

In other words, life was treating Septien nicely. Until last Sunday.

During the first quarter at the Astrodome in what turned out to be a 17-10 Dallas victory Septien was called upon to kick a 47-yard field goal. It went wide to the left.

A 47-yarder is not a chip shot, but it was hooked so badly that it would have missed if it had been 10 yards closer.

Later in the quarter he tried a 33-yarder and it hit the left upright. A 36-yard try in the second quarter was wide to the right.

In the third period he had a 40-yard try blocked, but because Houston was offsides Septien got another chance and he made that one.

But in the fourth period a 36-yard attempt hit the right upright.

In the first four games of the season Septien has missed seven field goal tries--one more than he missed all last season.

Afterwards Septien appeared truly perplexed. This has never happened to him before. He didn’t know whether to stare at the wall or throw something at it.

“I’m still alive,” he said. “I’ll get through this. Hopefully I will still have a job.”

There is no real formula to help a kicker. Nobody understands except another kicker.

“I didn’t say anything to him,” Dallas defensive back Everson Walls said. “I know when I make a big play I don’t want anybody talking to me. So I didn’t talk.”

Coach Tom Landry, however, tried to console Septien and urged him to relax and just follow through like a golfer does. It didn’t help.

Cowboys president and general manager Tex Schramm didn’t help matters either by pointing out what can happen to kickers.

“We’ve got to get the problem solved in a hurry,” Schramm said on his weekly radio show. “When kickers start to miss sometimes they keep on missing. I’ll give you an example. Uwe von Schamann (late of the Miami Dolphins) started to miss last year and now he’s not even in football.”

In training camp the Cowboys utilize the services of Ben Agajanian to work with kickers and punters.