Do I owe kickers Mike Nugent and Olindo Mare an apology? On Sunday, the Times published an article I wrote on how infrequently kickers miss extra points.
Before the start of play on Sunday, N.F.L. kickers had been perfect this season, making all 309 extra-point attempts in the first four weeks of play. Not surprisingly, the article appeared to hex two kickers: the Panthers’ Olindo Mare, who had an extra point blocked; and, about a half hour later, the Bengals’ Mike Nugent, who missed one off the right upright. It was Mare’s first miss since 2003 and Nugent’s first since 2007.
The good news is that neither missed extra-point turned out to be critical, and the even better news is that I didn’t mention or interview either player for the article, so I can’t be blamed for the blunders. Kickers are known to be a superstitious lot, and several who are on active rosters didn’t want to speak to me for an article about how seldom extra points are missed.
But Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka threw caution to the wind and spoke to me for the story, and I’m happy to report that he made all four of his extra-point attempts on Sunday, and also nailed both field goals he attempted, one from 43 yards and the other from 51.
The two misses are surely a coincidence, but who knows, maybe some secret society of kickers saw the story and resolved to miss a few extra points in order to discourage the N.F.L. from moving extra points back or eliminating them altogether. In all seriousness, every kicker I spoke to was emphatic in stating that extra points aren’t gimmes — even Matt Stover, who went nearly 14 years without missing one.
“I never, ever, ever went out there thinking it was easy,” Stover said.
We may not see another extra-point miss for weeks or months, but Sunday’s games were a reminder that to err is human. Even from the 2-yard line.
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