In Buffalo last night, Dallas Cowboys rookie kicker Nick Folk banged home the game-winning field goal from 53 yards -- not once but twice. Folk was forced to repeat the feat because the Bills called for timeout just before the ball was snapped, the soul-killing gimmick that the league’s competition committee can’t outlaw soon enough.
The Cowboys selected Folk out of Arizona with the 178th pick in last year’s draft, a pick justified with two swings of Folk’s mighty leg.
The Chiefs, of course, targeted a different Pac-10 kicker in the 2007 draft. Kansas City took Justin Medlock of UCLA with the 160th pick, only to cut the kid after a shaky preseason and a missed field goal in the opener.
At the time of Medlock's selection, critics of Chiefs President Carl Peterson grumbled about the kicker's ties to UCLA, Peterson's alma mater. Medlock is the fourth Bruin Peterson has drafted in his time as Chiefs boss. Former head coach Dick Vermeil and V.P. of football operations Lynn Stiles also have ties to the university.
With results in hand -- like, say, dramatic, game-winning field goals -- it’s easy to criticize general managers for their draft-day decisions. But if I were Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, I’d want to ask Peterson if sky blue and gold colored his perception about which kicker was the pick of the litter. – David Martin
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