Surviving the Hot Box

Aug 22, 2008, 6:00:18 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

For a couple of guys who go out every day and compete in the heat and pressure of a football hot box, it seems funny that both Nick Novak and Connor Barth spent time Thursday afternoon in the sauna that’s part of the Chiefs locker room.

Got to figure neither one needs any more heat on them, right?

“Oh, just trying to get the body ready for Saturday night,” Novak said after his trip to the hot box. “I’m just trying to sweat out the bad stuff.”

Kickers are always sweating. It goes with the job. They go all day, through every practice and game, waiting for the chance to perform. When that time comes and opportunity arrives, the thermostat goes up.

Of course kickers never like to show they sweat any place other than the sauna. As much pressure that falls on their few plays, they like to act in a manner that’s 180 degrees different; no pressure, calm, placid, nothing to lose. It’s why some kickers are just a little bit nutty, being torn back and forth between the spotlight and the need to hide their emotions in the corner. Last year’s draft choice Justin Medlock couldn’t handle that kind of pressure. Neither could his replacement Dave Rayner. Only when the wily veteran John Carney arrived at the end of the season did the Chiefs have a kicker who knew how to balance the craziness of the position.

Novak seems to understand. He’s gone through enough ups and downs during his short career that he has a pretty good idea of what’s around every turn. Since he left the University of Maryland, where he ended his career as the leading scorer in Atlantic Coast Conference history with 393 points over four seasons, Novak has had quite a journey through pro football:

2005: signed as a rookie free agent with the Chicago Bears in April after not being selected in the NFL Draft. He kicked in the Bears pre-season opener and made 22 and 27-yard field goals, while averaging 63 yards on three kickoffs. He did not play the next two games and was released. Novak was claimed on waivers by Dallas and he kicked in the pre-season finale for the Cowboys, making a 49-yard FG, while missing wide right from 40 yards. He was released the next week. Ten days later he was signed by Washington, where he kicked in five regular season games, hitting five of seven FGs, including a game-winner in overtime against Seattle. In early November, the Redskins released him and about a month later he signed with Arizona, seeing action in five games with the Cardinals. He was three for three, but mostly handled kickoffs.

So after his first season, he had kicked for four different teams, was a combined 11 of 14 on field goals.

2006: Kicking against veteran Neil Rackers in the pre-season for Arizona, Novak hit both of his FGs from 50 and 19 yards but was released before the final pre-season game. Washington signed him again in mid-October and he kicked in six regular season games for the Redskins, making five of 10 attempts before he was released in early December.

2007: He signed with the Bears in the off-season and was allocated to Cologne in NFL Europa. Novak was 10 of 17 on FGs and scored 55 points for the Centurions. In the ‘07 training camp with Chicago, he made the only field goal he tried from 35 yards and handled some kickoffs. After three games he was released by the Bears.

He was out of an NFL job until February, when he signed with the Chiefs. That doesn’t make him the first kicker to have the NFL tell him no multiple times. At 27, he’s not old enough to really know the story of former Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery who was rejected by eight NFL teams a total of 11 times before he stuck in Kansas City for the 1980 season, a year before Novak was born.

So being released six times by four different teams is nowhere near a record. And, Novak doesn’t look at any of those attempts as a failure.

“I look at them as it wasn’t my time,” he said. “For whatever reason, the situation wasn’t right for me at those places at that time. It makes you stronger. I have too much pride and courage to just hang it up. I have the belief that I belong in the league and I can perform at a high level.

“I’ve never looked at them as failures. It’s always been in my mind part of the journey to get to this point four years out of college. I just have to believe this is my time. Guys that make it never get discouraged. This is what I want to do with my life and there’s no place I would rather be that out there, kicking the ball.”

If the Chiefs ‘08 turn out to not be his time, does he have to eventually stop chasing the dream?

“They are going to have to tell me to go away, because it’s just not in me to quit,” Novak said. “Especially when I feel like I’m getting better every time and the positive feedback that I’m getting from coaches. Our first game in Chicago, Coach (Dave) Toub (Bears special teams coach) told me I was so close. Neil Rackers told me last week it was my time to play. They see that, and those things keep me going.”

Novak and Barth have been kicking head to head since the end of July. In the spring, they had a third competitor in Billy Cundiff who was released in June. Barth is the rookie, a kid who will one day kick in the NFL. Novak has been there, he wants to go back and stay.

But he also knows that the Chiefs kicker in ‘08 could be a guy who’s at home right now washing his car and kicking at the local high school. That’s what happens at the position.

“You learn in this league, you just go out and do your job,” Novak said. “The other stuff happens without any help from me, so what happens, happens.”

Nick Novak hopes only for another day in the NFL hotbox.

Read more about Novak, Barth and NFL kickers on bobgretz.com

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.