Billy Cundiff, Kyle Williams And Stumbles In The Spotlight.Soon after he hooked the kick wide left, costing his team a chance at the Super Bowl, Billy Cundiff was thinking of something bigger than football.
The Baltimore Ravens kicker had just missed a seemingly routine 32-yard attempt that could have sent the AFC championship game against the Patriots in New England in overtime.
In the locker room after speaking to reporters, he mentioned his two children at home.
"There are some lessons that I need to teach them," he said. "First and foremost, is to stand up and face the music and move on."
Cundiff was not the only one to stumble at a crucial time on Sunday. Nearly three thousand miles west, San Francisco 49ers returner Kyle Williams fumbled a punt in overtime to hand the New York Giants win the NFC championship game.
With these missteps, Cundiff and Williams added their names to a short list of the greatest pro football bumblers. They now have the difficult task of leaving the disappointment behind, ensuring their career remembers something more than a disappointing moment.
"You feel bad for these guys," said Herman Edwards, a former player and coach in the NFL, who now works as an analyst for ESPN. "They have learned to live with it."
Failure on the main stage can stick with a player.
No matter how many years it started in the NFL, Scott Norwood will always remember "wide right", no field goal attempt that the cost of the Buffalo Bills wins the Super Bowl XXV.
Despite the fact that Jackie Smith ranked among the best tight ends of his time, fans may never forget that he dropped a pass difficult, but that could have wide open for a touchdown as the Dallas Cowboys lost when Super Bowl XIII.
"How can you not dwell too much on this one mistake?" asked Larry Lauer, a sports psychologist at Michigan State University. "It's easier said than done."
The way back from the disappointment starts with the reaction of the team.
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was quick to get up to Cundiff, calling it a "great kicker" and predicting that it will be good. Williams, who fumbled another platform for the regulation, heard similar encouragement of his teammates.
"Obviously, there will be thinking about these two punt returns for a while, but we have not lost there," quarter Alex Smith. "Offensively, we were not good enough ... we did not."
But it's the NFL, a brutal world where careers can end in a heartbeat. So the initial disappointment and consolation soon gives way to evaluate dark.
When Edwards was coach of the New York Jets in 2005, met his kicker, Doug Brien missed two field goal attempts in the last two minutes of a playoff game his team eventually lost in overtime.
"We knew we could not get him back," said Edwards. "We drafted a kicker next year."
There have been other situations where, after watching the story of a talented player and the coach decided to keep it on the list. Thus begins the rehabilitation process.
An athlete who has failed to work under pressure should not simply dismiss what happened as an anomaly.
The Baltimore Ravens kicker had just missed a seemingly routine 32-yard attempt that could have sent the AFC championship game against the Patriots in New England in overtime.
In the locker room after speaking to reporters, he mentioned his two children at home.
"There are some lessons that I need to teach them," he said. "First and foremost, is to stand up and face the music and move on."
Cundiff was not the only one to stumble at a crucial time on Sunday. Nearly three thousand miles west, San Francisco 49ers returner Kyle Williams fumbled a punt in overtime to hand the New York Giants win the NFC championship game.
With these missteps, Cundiff and Williams added their names to a short list of the greatest pro football bumblers. They now have the difficult task of leaving the disappointment behind, ensuring their career remembers something more than a disappointing moment.
"You feel bad for these guys," said Herman Edwards, a former player and coach in the NFL, who now works as an analyst for ESPN. "They have learned to live with it."
Failure on the main stage can stick with a player.
No matter how many years it started in the NFL, Scott Norwood will always remember "wide right", no field goal attempt that the cost of the Buffalo Bills wins the Super Bowl XXV.
Despite the fact that Jackie Smith ranked among the best tight ends of his time, fans may never forget that he dropped a pass difficult, but that could have wide open for a touchdown as the Dallas Cowboys lost when Super Bowl XIII.
"How can you not dwell too much on this one mistake?" asked Larry Lauer, a sports psychologist at Michigan State University. "It's easier said than done."
The way back from the disappointment starts with the reaction of the team.
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was quick to get up to Cundiff, calling it a "great kicker" and predicting that it will be good. Williams, who fumbled another platform for the regulation, heard similar encouragement of his teammates.
"Obviously, there will be thinking about these two punt returns for a while, but we have not lost there," quarter Alex Smith. "Offensively, we were not good enough ... we did not."
But it's the NFL, a brutal world where careers can end in a heartbeat. So the initial disappointment and consolation soon gives way to evaluate dark.
When Edwards was coach of the New York Jets in 2005, met his kicker, Doug Brien missed two field goal attempts in the last two minutes of a playoff game his team eventually lost in overtime.
"We knew we could not get him back," said Edwards. "We drafted a kicker next year."
There have been other situations where, after watching the story of a talented player and the coach decided to keep it on the list. Thus begins the rehabilitation process.
An athlete who has failed to work under pressure should not simply dismiss what happened as an anomaly.
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