Review Day: Every Extra Point/Encouragement Counts

I was on the edge of my seat on Saturday afternoon, watching the Oregon State Beavers try and take down the Arizona Wildcats as they strive towards a possible Rose Bowl bid. It was a great game and the Arizona Wildcats were very impressive at home. The game was winding to a close at the Beavers were down 17-10. After scoring a touchdown to possibly tie it up, Justin Kahut, the Beavers kicker came out to attempt the routine extra point. Unfortunately, the deepest fear of every special teams coach’s dreams occurred; Kahut missed the extra point.

You could see the anger and anguish on the coaches and players faces as they possibly watched their Rose Bowl disappear with the missed extra point. But instead of hanging their heads and emotionally ousting their kicker Kahut, I saw encouragement and support given to their kicker. I’ve seen this often, both while playing and on TV, a team or teammate trying to encourage the kicker after he blew a critical kick. Its usually done somewhat half-heartedly or with a plastic grin, pretending everything would be okay when it really wasn’t. But what I saw from the Beaver football team was genuine encouragement. It wasn’t ignoring the dire straights they were in, but they weren’t giving up on each other or on their kicker even when all seemed lost.
Instead, as soon as they got the ball back, from their own 20 yard line, they made a miraculous recovery. “On the third play of the drive, OSU Quarterback, Sean Canfield, who started in place of the injured Lyle Moevao, found Sammie Stroughter alone behind the Wildcats secondary for a 47-yard gain to the Arizona 7. Four plays later, Kahut came on and calmly nailed a 24-yard field goal to seal the Beavers’ comeback.”

The calm that Kahut showed came from experience, but I believe that it also came from the encouragement and support that his teammate’s showed him. Kahut and his teammates weren’t dwelling on the past, but they weren’t ignoring it. They knew the stakes, the situation, but they refused to give up the time they had left, and they made the most of it.

You may find yourself dwelling on a past mistake you’ve made or someone else you know is struggling with the pressure of something coming up. Honest, heartfelt encouragement can do wonders for a person, giving them the strength and confidence they could need in order to conquer the next mountain life puts in their path.