Star-Telegram.com | 08/11/2007 | Gramatica, Folk in tight battle for team's trust
excerpt:
IRVING -- Cowboys training camp has gone so well that one of their biggest questions right now is the kicker.
Martin Gramatica vs. Nick Folk.
Only in Cowboys land can this showdown between the veteran and the rookie truly hold fans' attention.
That's because in recent years the Cowboys' kickers have collectively made missing kicks an art: They can miss from anywhere at any time in any condition.
Since 2000, the Cowboys have had seven kickers combine to make 72.1 percent of their field goals, the worst percentage in the NFL in that span. And only the Redskins have employed more kickers.
Now, with the veteran Gramatica having earned some confidence after he was signed late last season and the Cowboys drafting Folk in the sixth round from Arizona, they are hoping their long and fruitless search for a kicker is over.
"Hopefully, we'll get this thing worked out," Cowboys special teams coach Bruce Read said.
The Cowboys hope Folk wins the job. He's 23. He has a strong leg (he also punted in college). He would potentially settle a position that has been unstable since the Jimmy Johnson era.
"They want to settle it down for a guy to be here for 10 or 12 years," said Folk, who was born in Germany and holds dual citizenship. He made his only field goal attempt Thursday night in the preseason opener, a 25-yarder. "I'm trying to do that."
But Gramatica is making it difficult for Folk to win the job.
In training camp he's been consistent. He made two field goals in the preseason opener, including a 47-yarder that would have been good from 57.
"I feel a lot stronger, not only kicking but in the weight room," said Gramatica, 32. "Whatever I've done in the weight room has shown on the field."
Gramatica already has earned a degree of his teammates' confidence. His 46-yard field goal with 1 second remaining beat the Giants in New Jersey last December.
"That was a make-or-break kick for my career," Gramatica said. "If I had missed it, I probably wouldn't have been here the next week. That was huge also with my teammates to create trust."
At this point, the words trust and Cowboys kicker aren't easily linked.
"It's frustrating when the guaranteed, for-sure field goal is missed," linebacker Akin Ayodele said.
Gramatica, Folk in tight battle for team's trust
Gramatica, Folk in tight battle for team's trust
Linear Mode
