Leach Hits The Recruiting Trail . . . During A Game
by Seth C on Sep 22, 2008 6:19 AM CDT
in Texas Tech Football
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PrintFor those who were listening to the radio broadcast of the UMass v. Texas Tech matchup, we all heard that at the end of the 3rd quarter a Texas Tech student, Matt Williams, won free rent for kicking a 30 yard field goal. Williams's good fortune didn't end with the football sailing through the middle of the uprights as Captain Mike Leach invited Williams to visit with him about the possibility of trying out for the football team . . . during the middle of the game.
As Leach watched the field goal split the uprights he called Williams, a former kicker at Tarleton State, to the sideline and offered Williams to come to his office on Tuesday.
Captain Leach had this to say about the situation:
"We have a tradition of walk-on kickers rising to the top. (Robert) Treece and (Alex) Trlica both were walk-on kickers that eventually ended up getting to play significantly. We're always looking for guys. We're excited to see what he's got to offer if he's interested."Leach said he is unsure if he could comment on giving Williams an official tryout, but he hopes to run into him again.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about any of that. The reason I say that is I don't know if he counts as a recruit. He's a student (here)... I hope to see him again."
Current Texas Tech kicker, freshman Donnie Carona, has struggled a bit thus far, hitting only 1 of 5 field goals, 2 field goals being blocked, and missing 2 extra points (22 of 24). Luckily for Carona, he didn't miss an extra point on Saturday.
Williams didn't attempt a field goal in 2007 for Tarleton, but there was a Paul Williams who had this stat line in 2006:
FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Williams 13-16 81.2 0-0 5-5 4-5 3-4 1-2 53 0
I'm not sure if Paul Williams and Matt Williams are the same guy, but those aren't bad numbers for any kicker.
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THAT
Would be a GREAT story, eh? Kid wins contest, kicks halftime fieldgoal, gets tryout, makes team. Rudy would be proud.
free rent kick
i don’t know if any of you remember this, or maybe i’m just old and making up college memories, but i was at tech from 93 to 97 and i remember some dude winning like 25k from a local bank for making a long kick. they refused to give him the dough because he’d played varsity high school football or something?????? my memory wants me to believe they gave him the cash after students threatened to boycott the bank. anyone out there have the real memory?
Kickers
I don’t know about boycotting the bank but i remember a kicker for the Raiders in the 70’s with a wooden leg (knee down). He had one for kicking and one for walking around and there was a picture of him walking around with the kicking leg over his shoulder. Brian Hall was his name and he was a good kicker.
Matt Williams
I watched this kid kick at Weatherford High School for a few years. He is MONEY!!!!
My favorite memory was the shootout against Mineral Wells. Down by 3 with a few seconds left on the clock, (on the road) he kicked a…..52? yarder to tie the game, then kicked the game winner in OT.
He regularly kicked the kick offs through the uprights.
I can’t imagine him not being a kicker for a college team, and even in the NFL at some point.
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