Friday, October 10, 1997
Sailer goes far, wide for kicks
SAILER: Not for 19 years has a Bruin held combination of duties
that provide control over the ball
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
Chris Sailer is getting his kicks this year.
His first two years as a Bruin, he held down the punting duties,
but now in his junior season, Sailer is doing something that hasn’t
been done in Westwood in nearly two decades.
For the first time since 1978, a Bruin is performing the
punting, place-kicking and kickoff duties. And a fine job at
that.
He’s first in the Pac-10 (and sixth in the nation) with nine
field goals. His 44.26 yards per punt puts him second-best in the
conference, and his kickoffs consistently result in touchbacks.
"He’s doing an outstanding job" UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.
"I thought he’d be pretty good,but, boy, he’s doing better than I
thought."
And he’s getting better and better every week – culminating
Pac-10 special teams player-of-the week award he won for his
performance against Houston, in which he hit a 41-yard field goal,
connected on all six extra points and averaged 49.3 yards on four
punts.
In a strange twist of fate, Sailer actually made a name for
himself as a punter – he had always saw himself as a kicker, even
though he held both roles in his days at Notre Dame High School in
Sherman Oaks.
"I had an idea coming in that I would be redshirting and kind of
waiting behind (former Bruin kicker Bjorn Merten)," he said. "I
wasn’t even thinking about punting. I was more of a kicker."
But when the punting duties opened up in his freshman season and
tryouts were held, Sailer won the job and now is ranked third on
the all-time UCLA list with 42.3 yards per punt.
And even this year when the place-kicking duties were vacated by
Merten, Sailer was not guaranteed the job; rather he earned it
through yet another tryout.
It comes as no shock that he ranks amongst the nation’s top
punters. But what is most impressive is how he has handled the
place-kicking and kickoff duties and the power with which he drives
the ball.
"When Sailer goes out there he wants to punish the ball," field
goal snapper Chris Rubio said.
On kickoffs, he almost always knocks the ball either deep into
or over the end zone, forcing the opponent to down the ball for a
touchback. Last week all seven of his kickoffs were touchbacks. For
Toledo, this is a very important statistic.
"He’s kicked off unbelievably," Toledo said. "It’s hard (for
offense) to go 80 yards and not make a mistake. If he kicked off a
year ago, maybe a couple kickoffs that were run back for touchdowns
may not have happened."
Last season opponents returned 42 kicks, midway through this
year, only 14 have been returned.
Sailer gets more out of touchbacks than simply the thrill of
pinning an opponent deep in its territory – he just loves to kick
the ball far.
"I just want to kick the ball as hard as possible pretty much
because there’s a lot of good return men in the Pac-10," he said.
"And it’s kind of fun just to see how far you can kick it."
And oh, can he kick it far.
The other day in practice he hit a 57-yard field goal with a
full-blown rush coming at him. He has also made two 63-yarders off
of a snap (63 yards is the longest field goal in NFL history).
Though the longest he has made in a game is 44 yards, he dreams
of dialing up long distance.
"I think all kickers think of that," Sailer said. "It would be
nice to have a chance like that, but most times you don’t get the
opportunity with playing for field position and stuff like
that."
Sailer, however, makes the most of opportunities that arise.
After missing his first field goal try of the season, he has hit
his last nine in a row. But don’t think he’s resting on his
laurels.
"I just like to take every kick when it comes," Sailer said.
"When you start telling yourself it’s OK to miss because I’ve hit
my last nine in a row, that’s when you start playing mind games and
getting yourself in trouble."
And it’s not just talk from Sailer.
"He doesn’t have that much of a kicker’s attitude," Rubio said.
"He doesn’t have much of a head case."
Maybe not, but he always seems to leave the opponents with
one.