Why aren't there bare foot kickers anymore?

T

TheFied

2,500+ Posts
I am watching the 1990 Texas/CU game on ESPN Classic (tivo) and our kicker is bare foot. You don't see that any more.
 
This.

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The "no tee" comment I think is correct. And also, I think more is expected of kickers in coverage. They're not exactly wedge busters, but at the same time, when you have a guy running around back there with one shoe on, how much can you really expect from him in being the "one guy to beat"?

I don't think Tony Fritsch was barefoot, but I always remember him kicking off and immediately trotting to the sidelines. That doesn't fly anymore.
 
Why were there ever any barefoot kickers in the first place? I always thought it was just a fad, I can't think of any reason why you could kick the ball further/more accurately with no shoe. I know Tony Franklin used to launch moon shots with no shoe (and off a 2" tee), but he probably would have done that anyway...
 
Except for me.

Oh and Sebastian Janikowski. Call him a weirdo to his face, and you end up with a whiskey bottle broken over the face and a pool cue sticking out the ***.
 
To me, punting barefoot was always easier but I did not understand kicking barefoot. Of course, I rarely played in cold weather. I remember Tony Franklin with a special "sideline boot" in Philadelphia.
 
Maybe it's because kids rarely grow up barefoot any more. Maybe there are rules in junior football leagues now that you have to wear shoes. Or maybe it's because shoes are so much lighter now.
 
I agree with the above post that kickers now are *******. It's all about toe-punching a ball off of the frozen tundra with your frostbitten stump.
 
The turf point makes sense. Back in 1990, we had astroturf, so did the Cotton Bowl, so did A&M.... but it sure seems like it would hurt to kick barefoot. I will say that I do miss seeing guys running on the football field with one shoe on purpose.
 
Hate to disagree with Slugga on this....but as a former kicker/punter it really has more to do with the evolution of the shoe. The whole principle of the barefoot punter, which you saw more of than the barefoot kicker was that you wanted to least amount of any material between your foot and the ball. There was a guy at UT that made the team in 1998 that punted barefoot, that at all the camps i went to the scouts kept telling him and his parents that people just dont want barefoot kickers anymore because of perception of lack of coverage. He was the last one I ever saw. There was even a guy who used to kick barefoot the I tried out with the year after that switched and his reason was the shoes. To be honest....kicking barefoot on astroturf hurts really really bad.....your foot has rugburn afterwards.
 
Trust me man....I understand the theory is unfounded....but I still wanted the lightest thinest possible shoe to kick in....I would have honestly prefered to Punt barefooted....but the sting wasnt worth it....and the addidas i worn had a softer more flexible bottom that the mundial.....that shoe was much much better for pure placekickers....i couldnt punt in them, just didnt like the feel to stiff for me....

I went to the same camps 96-98 and learned from the same types of ncaa and nfl kickers and punters....

Could be debated all day....honestly i just think it was a fad.

To be honest with the advances in technology i am surprised we dont see more straight on guys....
 
The PK on my junior high football team in the 70s kicked barefoot with his toe, i.e. not "soccer style." He'd lift his toes way up so he hit the ball with the front part of his foot. I tried it, but couldn't lift my toes as high so ended up with a very sore big toe.

I agree with the poster who said it probably goes back to rules in Pop Warner, JH & HS football requiring shoes now. Back then, it was just considered cool to kick barefoot.
 
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