Kicker Right on Target When It Comes to Overcoming Adversity : Prep football: Santa Monica High’s Jerry Weichman uses a prosthetic leg and foot to kick field goals.

Jerry Weichman attracted the attention of Santa Monica High football Coach Ron Guercio at the start of spring drills last April.

Weichman was not as smooth as some of the other kickers, but Guercio was impressed with the junior’s power and distance. As far as Guercio was concerned, Weichman had earned the kicking job before the season began.

But what Guercio didn’t know was that the kicker was missing his right foot.

Weichman, who kicks right-footed, wears a prosthetic leg and foot that attaches below the knee with a specially designed brace.

Santa Monica is 0-5, but Weichman has kicked field goals of 36 and 27 yards and six extra points. In practice, he is consistent from 45 yards and has made a 55-yard field goal. His kickoffs typically land inside the 10-yard line.

Weichman, playing on the sophomore team last season, did not get a chance to try a field goal but made 10 of 11 extra points.

“He was the best kicker to come out of spring drills, but I thought something looked weird,” Guercio said. “He looked sort of stiff. I had been joking with him about sore muscles. When somebody told me about him the next day, I was shocked.”

Weichman, who was born without a right foot, can walk and run. He wears regular football cleats. The only signs of his handicap on the field are the brace and a slight limp.

“People are surprised when they find out because technology kind of conceals a lot of things,” Weichman said. “When I wear regular clothes and long pants, you can’t really tell. The whole school knows about it . . . my prosthesis and everything, but I’m treated like one of the guys.”

Said senior quarterback Lucas Haper, Weichman’s holder: “Everybody is amazed by what he does. He has never used having one foot as an excuse. Nobody really talks about it.”

That was not the case, though, in a game against Los Angeles Loyola during his freshman season.

Officials refused to let Weichman play after noticing his prosthesis during warm-ups. Weichman, who also played tight end and defensive end that year, was told that the prosthesis was a danger to other players and he needed approval from the CIF Southern Section.

After reviewing the incident and examining the prosthesis, section administrator Bill Clark cleared Weichman. He has had no other incidents, but Weichman still brings a waiver from the section to games as a precaution.

It is a small concession for Weichman, who almost didn’t get an opportunity to try out for the freshman team.

Barry Weichman encouraged his son to participate in youth soccer and baseball leagues as a child. But he was not receptive to Jerry’s desire to play football and refused to sign his waiver. Jerry instead sought permission from his mother.

“There are different things you can go to each parent for,” Weichman said. “Getting my football waiver signed was something I knew I’d have to go to my mom for. She was like, ‘Oh sure.’ Once when I came home from a game with a concussion and my dad knew about it, he just said, ‘I don’t even want to hear about it’ and walked away.’ ”

But when Weichman decided to pursue only kicking in his sophomore season, his father became one of his biggest supporters. He now attends all of Jerry’s games.

Weichman’s level of activity has created problems for the company that manufactures his prosthesis. He has broken nearly 30 of them, at a cost of about $700 each. Insurance covers most of the cost, but Weichman, 5 feet 11 and 165 pounds, now wears a foot designed for a 285-pound person.

“The company wants to meet me because I’ve sent them so many feet,” Weichman said. “The one I have now hasn’t broken yet, and I’ve had it for about six months. So maybe this one will work.”

Weichman also played third base and pitched for the freshman baseball team and plans to try out for the varsity next spring.

But kicking is his top priority. He trains year-round, lifts weights and often practices kicking into a large net in his back yard. He plans to continue playing in college.

“I had my share of concussions as a freshman,” Weichman said. “And I thought, ‘Hey, kicking is something I can do pretty well. Maybe I have got a future in it.’ I don’t really want to endanger myself by playing other positions and getting a knee blown out. If I just take it easy and kick, I can get a (scholarship) somewhere.”

Like former kicker Tom Dempsey, the NFL record-holder for the longest field goal of 63 yards, who was born without a hand and toes on his kicking foot, Weichman is one of the few kickers still using a straight-ahead, three-step approach.

Most now use the soccer-style method. Weichman tried it but found that he gets greater distance using the old style.

“I know the mechanics and a lot of people are doing soccer-style,” Weichman said. “If I really worked at it, I’d be all right. But I’ve really been comfortable kicking straight on. It’s not my prosthesis that helps me kick at all. The real distance comes from the hip and the strength in my thigh.”

In the summer, Weichman experimented, kicking with a stubbed shoe similar to one worn by Dempsey, and made by Tony Castro, the designer of Dempsey’s shoe.

Weichman had better accuracy but decreased distance with the stubbed shoe. He decided to stick with regular shoes but may consider switching in college. Weichman says the stubbed shoe gives him additional lift, which may be an advantage in college, where tees are no longer allowed.

Whatever shoe Weichman decides to wear, it is likely he will have to seek approval to play from the NCAA, according to John Adams, secretary of the football rules committee. Regulations prohibit any equipment, including artificial limbs, that would “confuse or endanger other players.”

But Adams does not anticipate that Weichman will have difficulty getting clearance.

Weichman, though, has been thinking more about the opportunity to kick this season than in the future. The Vikings have scored only seven touchdowns, and Weichman has had only two field-goal attempts.

“I’m really feeling in the groove right now,” Weichman said. “I’m just dying for the chance to go out there and do something.”