Karlis Doesn’t Keep Team Hanging Kicking Seven-of-Seven Field Goals

Last week, kicker Rich Karlis was taped like a mummy by members of Minnesota’s offensive line and hung upside down from the goal posts at the Vikings’ training facility.

This new perspective on things may have given him a rip-roaring headache, but it certainly did wonders for his accuracy.

Sunday, Karlis tied a National Football League record with seven field goals during the Vikings’ 23-21 overtime victory over the Rams in the Metrodome. St. Louis’ Jim Bakken also made seven field goals in a game against Pittsburgh on Sept. 24, 1967.

Karlis can thank, or maybe blame is a better word, his wife for the hang time provided by his teammates. It seems that Dena Karlis happened to mention to her sister-in-law, Kellee Lowdermilk, that she thought the Viking offensive linemen “dressed like slobs.”

Lowdermilk is Karlis’ sister, but she is also the wife of Minnesota center Kirk Lowdermilk, and soon Mrs. Karlis’ fashion critique had made the rounds in the locker room.

“You have to be careful what you say about linemen,” Viking guard Randall McDaniel explained. “We never forget. We couldn’t get her, so we had to take care of him. And we let him dangle a while, too.”

Karlis is listed at 6-feet and 180 pounds, but you can subtract a couple of inches and a few pounds. In any case, he’s no match for an enraged group of linemen.

“Yeah, maybe a lot of kickers will try it now,” Karlis said, managing a weak smile. “It could be the new secret to seven field goals in a game.”

Actually, the Viking offense provided all those opportunities and there’s no secret involved. All you have to do is march up and down the field at will until you get inside the 30. Then you bog down.

“There are many, many ways to win a game,” Viking Coach Jerry Burns noted. But you can bet the Minnesota game plan never mentioned going seven-for-seven on field-goal attempts.

Karlis made kicks of 20, 24, 22, 25, 29 and 36 yards before being called upon to send the game into overtime with a 40-yarder with eight seconds remaining in regulation.

The first six kicks were clearly on target from the moment they left Karlis’ bare foot. The last one--with the game on the line and Burns on one knee with his head bowed--came perilously close to hitting the right upright.

“That last one was a little more exciting than I’d like it to be,” Karlis said. “I thought it took a little paint off, but (holder) Bucky (Scribner) said it made it by six or eight inches.

“I thought I pushed it a little, but it hooked back. The good Lord had his steering wheel on that one. And I used every bit of body english I had left. Fortunately, I had good mechanics and followed through or it would have veered right and then the other six wouldn’t have mattered.”

When the game went into overtime, the chances for Karlis to break the record seemed good. Most often, it’s a kicker who plays a role in overtime.

Was Karlis disappointed he didn’t get a chance to make NFL history?

“Absolutely not,” he said. “A lot of people must think that you sit on the sidelines with your stat sheets. I assumed I might get a chance for No. 8 because in overtime, a field goal or a big play like Mike (Merriweather, whose blocked punt resulted in a game-winning safety) made usually decides the game. But I’m just happy for Mike to make that big play.”

After being hung upside down, Karlis is also happy he’s alive and kicking, not to mention still kicking for a living. He was waived by the Denver Broncos this summer--after scoring more than 100 points for the fourth time in his career in 1988--and claimed by the Vikings on Sept. 26.

Negotiations between Karlis and Minnesota broke down once, but they got back together and worked out a deal.

“We realized that I wanted to kick in NFL and for this ballclub,” he said. “And they realized they needed someone with a track record. I’m here for a reason and that’s to help us get where we want to be and that’s in the Super Bowl.”

Karlis, who made five field goals against Seattle in 1984 and three of seven attempts last season in San Diego, says he feels more tension on the sidelines than he does on the field. He understands pressure, however. After all, this is a man who emerged from a 478-player, free-agent, walk-on tryout to win a job with the Broncos in 1982.

And he had made only five of 10 attempts with the Vikings before Sunday.

“I can’t say I’ve never felt pressure, but I felt a lot more pressure when I first came here, wanting to kick well for this team, and not making everything,” he said. “I was trying to steer things, but I felt very relaxed today.”

If it seems difficult to believe that a guy can stroll out on the field with the game on the line and 60,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs, you have to understand that it’s just another outing for Karlis. Sunday was a good day. But others haven’t been so good.

“You get in this game and so many things happen in your life--good, bad, you make ‘em and you miss ‘em, you get booed and you get cheered,” he said. “I’ve hit the uprights in games where my kick meant everything. Experiencing all that stuff is how you get equilibrium.

“This was my best day ever and it was very gratifying because every kick meant something. But there’s nothing immortal about me. I’m going to miss some and you just have to learn to live with it.”

So, in the meantime, he’ll just be hanging around, waiting for another chance.

HOT LEGS Most field goals made in an NFL game:

No. Player, Team Yr. 7 JIM BAKKEN, Cardinals 1967 7 RICH KARLIS, Vikings ’89 6 GINO CAPPELLETTI, Patriots ’64 6 GARO YEPREMIAN, Lions ’66 6 JIM TURNER, Jets ’68 6 TOM DEMPSEY, Eagles ’72 6 BOBBY HOWFIELD, Jets ’72 6 JIM BAKKEN, Cardinals ’73 6 JOE DANELO, Giants ’81 6 RAY WERSCHING, 49ers ’83 6 GARY ANDERSON, Steelers ’88