It’s Kick or Get the Boot for Fuad Reveiz
Fuad Reveiz, teetering on his last leg as kicker for the Chargers, puts his career on the line Sunday in Cleveland in a stadium known, “as the Mistake on the Lake.”
No more mistakes for Reveiz, though, because one more boo-boo, and it’s bye-bye.
“That’s a fact,” special teams coordinator Larry Pasquale said. “He’s got to produce this weekend. He’s under the knife, the gun, the scalpel, the whole thing.
“Coach (Dan) Henning talked to him today in front of the whole team,” Pasquale said, “and said, ‘Look, we like you a lot and everything, but you gotta make field goals.’ ”
Hold on there, does that mean it’s really coming down to a do-or-die week for Reveiz?
“No,” Henning said. “It is a do-or-die week. He understands that.”
The condemned man smiled.
“He’s made it very obvious that we have to make kicks,” Reveiz said.
Reveiz refused to blink in a training camp stare-down with Plan B free agent John Carney. But after being named the team’s one-and-only kicker, he missed his final preseason attempt from 38 yards.
In his first two regular-season appearances, he missed field goals of 31 and 44 yards, while connecting from 19. He solidified his shaky standing, however, when his try for an extra point Sunday was blocked.
“I just know that the good Lord works in mysterious ways,” Reveiz said. “And this is a mystery.”
The puzzle becomes all the more baffling when taking into consideration past performances. While with Miami, Reveiz hit 73.6% of his field-goal attempts and 35 of 39 inside the 40-yard line.
“I’m not exactly sure what goes through the head of a placekicker,” Henning said. “You can sit for hours, days, weeks, and months and try and figure out kickers. I’ve seen mark Moseley cut, and I’ve seen him be the most valuable player in the NFL 10 years later. I’ve seen Nick Lowery cut, and I’ve seen him come on to be one of the top kickers in the ‘80s.”
Reveiz’s career came to an unexpected halt in Miami after injuring his thigh on a kickoff against the Chargers in 1988. He didn’t recover sufficiently to retain employment later in the year with the Dolphins. He spent last season out of work, and signed as a free agent with the Chargers in March.
“Maybe I’m trying too hard and too quick to get back to the form that I had before I was injured,” Reveiz said. “The fact of the matter is I’ve been hitting the ball really well. . . . I know I’m a much better kicker than I’ve showed.”
That’s what the Chargers contend. An 0-2 team, however, is wonting for patience.
“We think Fuad is a good kicker,” Henning said. “But I also told him in this day and age I’m not sure the fans and the media, or the owner, would consider us keeping him, regardless of who wants to back him, if he doesn’t perform the next time out.”
Reveiz said he will not be looking over his shoulder. “I’ve never done that and won’t start now,” he said. “You can’t make it bigger than it is; whenever you start over-analyzing and over-emphasizing things, it just gets worse and worse and worse.”
In searching for hope to bolster Reveiz’s chances for survival, Pasquale harkened back to his days as special teams coordinator with the New York Jets.
“I’ve been through this many times with Pat Leahy,” Pasquale said. “Pat Leahy had three very severe slumps. He had some slumps where he wasn’t hitting the ball one-half as well as Fuad is.
“Leahy has come down to his final kick twice. Walt Michaels one time told him, ‘Next one you miss, you’re out of here.’ The same with Joe Walton.”
Pasquale said he has studied Reveiz in action, and he’s approaching the ball properly, getting good lift and doing everything necessary to score points.
“Whatever it is, it’s a minor adjustment,” Pasquale said. “Fuad has the ability to right himself, but I understand the situation, and I think he does, too.”