Stu is anti-Nebraska & usually terrible, but this one is actually readable:
Whitney: How Cowboys kicker Brett Maher got a leg up with Sioux Falls on his side
Stu's Views
Stu Whitney, Sioux Falls Argus Leader Published 9:01 a.m. CT Jan. 11, 2019
What does it feel like to learn that your son will be kicking for Dallas Cowboys, the iconic NFL franchise sometimes known as “America’s Team”?
For Sioux Falls School District superintendent Brian Maher, the rush of emotion came in the form of a Friday night phone call in late August, the day before roster cuts were made official.
“The good Lord willing, I’ll remember that conversation until the day I die,” says Maher, whose 29-year-old son, Brett, is a former University of Nebraska kicker who spent four seasons in the Canadian Football League before getting a tryout with Dallas.
Brett had been cut by the Cowboys back in 2013, one of several unsuccessful training camp forays that included stints with the Jets and Browns. This time he was competing against veteran Dan Bailey, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, who had signed a seven-year, $22.5 million deal in 2014.
A groin injury hindered Bailey’s performance in 2017, and Maher nailed both field goals – including a 57-yarder – in the Cowboys’ final preseason game. But when the phone call arrived the night before final cuts, Brian Maher was still prepared to hear that his son’s dream had run into hard reality once again.
“I was ready to pull out that speech that I had given several times before,” says Brian, who was hired as Sioux Falls superintendent in 2015. “The one where I say, ‘I’m proud of you, son. There are so many athletes who will never get the chance to experience what you did, and you did a great job.’ But then he said, ‘Dad, I haven’t heard anything yet.’ And I put the speech back in my pocket.”
Maher had seen his son excel as an all-around athlete in high school, fight his way into the kicking role at the University of Nebraska as a walk-on and make a living in the CFL in places like Winnipeg, Ottawa and Hamilton. He had seen him overcome disappointment and confront competitive pressures with the help of a Sioux Falls sports performance specialist, all while striving to support a young family.
Now he tried to wrap his head around the notion that Brett had outdueled one of the league’s top kickers to win the starting job with Dallas, giving South Dakota another strong-legged local connection beyond future Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri.
“I said to him, ‘Wait a minute – do you think you have a chance to make that squad?’” recalls Brian. “And he said, ‘Let’s just say that I made it very tough for them to decide.’”
Along for the ride
When Vinatieri made his now-legendary 45-yard field goal through a blizzard in the 2001 playoffs to help launch the New England Patriots dynasty, the Mahers were watching from their living room in Utica, Neb., just outside Lincoln.
Even at 12 years old, Brett had a sense of the skill and determination it took to fight through the elements and make a high-pressure kick under those circumstances.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that it had an impact on him,” says Brian, who had earlier served as high school principal in nearby Waverly. One of the student teachers at the school was Nebraska alum and former NFL kicker Kris Brown, who provided another role model for Brett.
So even while he excelled at other sports, such as basketball and track, and starred as a wide receiver and defensive back in football, the young Maher dutifully trained as a punter and placekicker and waited for his time to shine.
After three years of high school at Centennial in Utica, he was forced to adapt to a new school as a senior when his dad accepted the job as superintendent in Kearney in 2007.
Brett made 8 of 14 field goals and averaged 41.2 yards a punt while also catching 10 touchdown passes for the Bearcats, earning all-state honors. He was honorable mention all-state in basketball and won track and field state titles in long jump and pole vault.
Though he had scholarship offers from Ohio and Colorado State, there was an obvious pull to Nebraska, where older sister Lindsey competed in track and younger sister Maggie would follow.
Brett walked on with the Huskers and was the team’s holder and backup punter as a freshman and sophomore, working with future NFL kicker Alex Henery. He took over the kicking and punting duties as a junior and exceeded expectations, earning All-Big Ten honors for both roles while making 19 of 23 field goals and averaging 44.5 yards a punt.
That performance earned him a scholarship as a senior under Bo Pelini in 2012, when he hit 20 of 27 field goals and set a school record for most points scored by a kicker.
It was a dream come true for lifelong Nebraska fans Brian and Peggy Maher, but seeing their son in so many pressure situations was tough to bear. The relative isolation and clear-cut consequences of the kicking game made game days an emotional maelstrom.
“Unhealthy,” says Brian. “That’s the best way I can describe what I feel in my gut every single time he goes out there. None of us want to see our kids fail, and every time out there for him it’s pass or fail. It’s never like, ‘Well, that was pretty good.’ It’s either in or it’s out, and we’re along for the ride.”
Vision takes shape
It didn’t take long for Brett to discover that chasing his NFL dream could be just as maddening as a missed field goal, with much higher personal stakes.
He married high school sweetheart Jenna McBride in the summer of 2013, while he was trying to latch onto a roster as an undrafted free agent. When the Jets chose Billy Cundiff he signed briefly with Dallas, where Bailey was working through an injury but ultimately kept his job, leading to Maher’s August release.
“His phone didn’t ring the rest of the year,” says Brian.
His CFL experience began in 2014, when he was cut by Winnipeg but quickly scooped up by the expansion Ottawa Redblacks, where he nailed 6 of 6 field goals in an 18-17 win over Toronto for the franchise’s first-ever win, while also handling punting duties.
By that time Jenna had given birth to their first daughter, Maela, who arrived several weeks early and was introduced to Brett via Skype from the hospital.
His following season was cut short by a hip injury and torn labrum, which required surgery and rehab. But he played with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2016 while adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of the Canadian game, which has wider hash marks and uprights positioned at the goal line, with no more than 20 American players allowed on a roster.
“It’s been a crazy ride and a fun ride,” said Maher, whose overall CFL stats including 66-for-87 (76 percent) accuracy on field goals. “But the ultimate goal is to play at the highest level.”
His NFL outlook appeared to brighten in 2017 when he was invited to offseason workouts with Cleveland to challenge Cody Parkey, who made headlines last week with a field goal miss off the upright and crossbar that sent Chicago to defeat in the wild card round.
When the Browns later drafted Zane Gonzalez and released Maher, Brett quickly returned to Ottawa, seeking a steady paycheck to support a family which by then had grown to include his second daughter, Laekyn.
Parkey was also cut by the Browns, but he hung around and waited for another shot, which eventually came when he was signed by Miami for the remainder of the 2017 season.
Watching from afar, Maher vowed that he would make a full commitment to reaching the NFL in 2018, which meant talking his physical and mental preparation to another level. Before attending a kicking combine in Arizona that would help determine his fate, he found guidance from an unexpected source.
Mission in mind
Andy Gillham might seem an unlikely candidate to work with a placekicker. The founder of Ludus Consulting in Sioux Falls has a background in strength and conditioning and doesn't pretend to understand the mechanics of booting the ball through the uprights.
But Gillham has found a niche in sports performance and consulting, working with coaches, teams and individual athletes to maximize their potential.
Brian Maher worked with Gillham’s wife and decided to give him a call to talk about Brett. Before long, they were breaking down the mental aspect of one of the most pressure-filled jobs in sports.
“One thing I stressed to Brett is that it’s OK to give a damn,” says Gillham, who has a doctorate in sports psychology and has worked with gymnasts, figure skaters and golfers. “It’s OK to be nervous and concerned about your reputation and not wanting to let your family and teammates down. Once athletes buy into that, it becomes less about fighting those feelings and more about using them to their advantage.”
As Brett headed to the kicking combine in Arizona and drew a training camp invitation from the Cowboys, he clung to a piece of much-paraphrased advice: “It’s not about getting rid of the butterflies. It’s about getting them to fly in formation.”
That came in handy the day after that emotional phone call between father and son, when Dallas was cutting players left and right and Brett, who would come much cheaper than Bailey’s salary, still had a job.
With the cutdown deadline looming and Brian preparing to leave for the Presidents Bowl at Howard Wood Field, word broke that Bailey had been released. That led to a flurry of texts and calls, including one from family friend Kris Brown, a former All-Pro kicker who spent 12 seasons in the NFL.
“Brownie,” said Brian, “I don’t know what the situation is yet.”
“Are you kidding?” said Brown, noting that the deadline had passed. “Brian, it’s a done deal. He made the team.”
Brett confirmed that news about an hour later, setting in motion a whirlwind of events that consumed the entire family. Because of the uncertainty of Brett’s situation, Jenna had committed to her job as an elementary school teacher in Lincoln for the school year, a promise she didn’t intend to break.
During the season, while she’s teaching, Peg watches Maela and Laekyn during the day while Brian supervises the public schools in Sioux Falls and Brett kicks for the Cowboys.
“Brett makes in two games what Jenna makes in a whole year,” said Brian of his son’s $480,000 salary. “They had the financial wherewithal to walk away from (the teaching job), but good teachers are hard to find and they decided to stick it out. I’m just as proud of that as seeing Brett’s dream come to fruition.”
Alive and kicking
For the Mahers, memorable moments have arrived on a near-weekly basis, like a live-action scrapbook bursting at the seams.
On Sept. 30, Brian and Peg watched as their son kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cowboys a 26-24 home win over Detroit, setting off a raucous celebration at AT&T Stadium. Someone snapped a picture of the proud parents hugging, with the image of Brett being mobbed by his teammates on the Jumbotron in the background.
“That was about as much pressure as you could draw up for somebody, and he had a big day," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the game. "He really should be applauded."
Maher nailed another game-winner on Nov. 18 on the road against Atlanta, making up for a missed extra point earlier in the game. And he made history three weeks at home against Philadelphia, drilling a 62-yard field goal at the end of the first half that broke Bailey’s record of 56 yards for the longest kick in franchise history.
By that time, Maher was getting accustomed to being mobbed by his teammates. His total of 29 field goals this season (on 36 attempts) ranks seventh among NFL kickers.
"To be honest I don’t hear a lot of it – it’s just a lot of loud noises," he said of the on-field celebrations. "I try to make sure I keep my chin strap buckled up so I don’t get hurt."
Another special moment came on Dec. 16, when the Cowboys traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Though Dallas suffered a shutout loss, being on the same field with Vinatieri revealed with full-circle certainty that Maher had reached his goal.
With Vinatieri’s four Super Bowl rings, all-time leading scorer status and Hall of Fame resume, it’s hard to draw comparisons. But both he and Maher were exceptional all-around high school athletes who bring competitive intensity to their role.
Following in the tradition of Vinatieri chasing down Herschel Walker to save a touchdown as a rookie, Maher made an open-field tackle against Seattle's Tyler Lockett last week that helped the Cowboys escape with a 24-22 playoff win.
The connection extends to the kickers' families. Sioux Falls city councilor Christine Erickson, who is Vinatieri's younger sister, plans to exchange autographed footballs with Brian Maher as the NFL postseason continues.
While Erickson and her family head to Kansas City to watch Indianapolis face the Chiefs, Brett and Peg will join Jenna for a trip west as the Cowboys face the Rams in NFC divisional round action at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
This magnificent journey that started with a phone call four months ago could end any moment, a razor-edged reality that the Mahers are willing to accept.
"The NFL stands for Not For Long," shrugs Brian. "But we're enjoying every single minute along the way."
Argus Leader Media columnist Stu Whitney can be reached at swhitney@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter @stuwhitney
https://www.argusleader.com/story/n...r-got-leg-up-sioux-falls-his-side/2515730002/
Whitney: How Cowboys kicker Brett Maher got a leg up with Sioux Falls on his side
Stu's Views
Stu Whitney, Sioux Falls Argus Leader Published 9:01 a.m. CT Jan. 11, 2019
What does it feel like to learn that your son will be kicking for Dallas Cowboys, the iconic NFL franchise sometimes known as “America’s Team”?
For Sioux Falls School District superintendent Brian Maher, the rush of emotion came in the form of a Friday night phone call in late August, the day before roster cuts were made official.
“The good Lord willing, I’ll remember that conversation until the day I die,” says Maher, whose 29-year-old son, Brett, is a former University of Nebraska kicker who spent four seasons in the Canadian Football League before getting a tryout with Dallas.
Brett had been cut by the Cowboys back in 2013, one of several unsuccessful training camp forays that included stints with the Jets and Browns. This time he was competing against veteran Dan Bailey, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, who had signed a seven-year, $22.5 million deal in 2014.
A groin injury hindered Bailey’s performance in 2017, and Maher nailed both field goals – including a 57-yarder – in the Cowboys’ final preseason game. But when the phone call arrived the night before final cuts, Brian Maher was still prepared to hear that his son’s dream had run into hard reality once again.
“I was ready to pull out that speech that I had given several times before,” says Brian, who was hired as Sioux Falls superintendent in 2015. “The one where I say, ‘I’m proud of you, son. There are so many athletes who will never get the chance to experience what you did, and you did a great job.’ But then he said, ‘Dad, I haven’t heard anything yet.’ And I put the speech back in my pocket.”
Maher had seen his son excel as an all-around athlete in high school, fight his way into the kicking role at the University of Nebraska as a walk-on and make a living in the CFL in places like Winnipeg, Ottawa and Hamilton. He had seen him overcome disappointment and confront competitive pressures with the help of a Sioux Falls sports performance specialist, all while striving to support a young family.
Now he tried to wrap his head around the notion that Brett had outdueled one of the league’s top kickers to win the starting job with Dallas, giving South Dakota another strong-legged local connection beyond future Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri.
“I said to him, ‘Wait a minute – do you think you have a chance to make that squad?’” recalls Brian. “And he said, ‘Let’s just say that I made it very tough for them to decide.’”
Along for the ride
When Vinatieri made his now-legendary 45-yard field goal through a blizzard in the 2001 playoffs to help launch the New England Patriots dynasty, the Mahers were watching from their living room in Utica, Neb., just outside Lincoln.
Even at 12 years old, Brett had a sense of the skill and determination it took to fight through the elements and make a high-pressure kick under those circumstances.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that it had an impact on him,” says Brian, who had earlier served as high school principal in nearby Waverly. One of the student teachers at the school was Nebraska alum and former NFL kicker Kris Brown, who provided another role model for Brett.
So even while he excelled at other sports, such as basketball and track, and starred as a wide receiver and defensive back in football, the young Maher dutifully trained as a punter and placekicker and waited for his time to shine.
After three years of high school at Centennial in Utica, he was forced to adapt to a new school as a senior when his dad accepted the job as superintendent in Kearney in 2007.
Brett made 8 of 14 field goals and averaged 41.2 yards a punt while also catching 10 touchdown passes for the Bearcats, earning all-state honors. He was honorable mention all-state in basketball and won track and field state titles in long jump and pole vault.
Though he had scholarship offers from Ohio and Colorado State, there was an obvious pull to Nebraska, where older sister Lindsey competed in track and younger sister Maggie would follow.
Brett walked on with the Huskers and was the team’s holder and backup punter as a freshman and sophomore, working with future NFL kicker Alex Henery. He took over the kicking and punting duties as a junior and exceeded expectations, earning All-Big Ten honors for both roles while making 19 of 23 field goals and averaging 44.5 yards a punt.
That performance earned him a scholarship as a senior under Bo Pelini in 2012, when he hit 20 of 27 field goals and set a school record for most points scored by a kicker.
It was a dream come true for lifelong Nebraska fans Brian and Peggy Maher, but seeing their son in so many pressure situations was tough to bear. The relative isolation and clear-cut consequences of the kicking game made game days an emotional maelstrom.
“Unhealthy,” says Brian. “That’s the best way I can describe what I feel in my gut every single time he goes out there. None of us want to see our kids fail, and every time out there for him it’s pass or fail. It’s never like, ‘Well, that was pretty good.’ It’s either in or it’s out, and we’re along for the ride.”
Vision takes shape
It didn’t take long for Brett to discover that chasing his NFL dream could be just as maddening as a missed field goal, with much higher personal stakes.
He married high school sweetheart Jenna McBride in the summer of 2013, while he was trying to latch onto a roster as an undrafted free agent. When the Jets chose Billy Cundiff he signed briefly with Dallas, where Bailey was working through an injury but ultimately kept his job, leading to Maher’s August release.
“His phone didn’t ring the rest of the year,” says Brian.
His CFL experience began in 2014, when he was cut by Winnipeg but quickly scooped up by the expansion Ottawa Redblacks, where he nailed 6 of 6 field goals in an 18-17 win over Toronto for the franchise’s first-ever win, while also handling punting duties.
By that time Jenna had given birth to their first daughter, Maela, who arrived several weeks early and was introduced to Brett via Skype from the hospital.
His following season was cut short by a hip injury and torn labrum, which required surgery and rehab. But he played with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2016 while adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of the Canadian game, which has wider hash marks and uprights positioned at the goal line, with no more than 20 American players allowed on a roster.
“It’s been a crazy ride and a fun ride,” said Maher, whose overall CFL stats including 66-for-87 (76 percent) accuracy on field goals. “But the ultimate goal is to play at the highest level.”
His NFL outlook appeared to brighten in 2017 when he was invited to offseason workouts with Cleveland to challenge Cody Parkey, who made headlines last week with a field goal miss off the upright and crossbar that sent Chicago to defeat in the wild card round.
When the Browns later drafted Zane Gonzalez and released Maher, Brett quickly returned to Ottawa, seeking a steady paycheck to support a family which by then had grown to include his second daughter, Laekyn.
Parkey was also cut by the Browns, but he hung around and waited for another shot, which eventually came when he was signed by Miami for the remainder of the 2017 season.
Watching from afar, Maher vowed that he would make a full commitment to reaching the NFL in 2018, which meant talking his physical and mental preparation to another level. Before attending a kicking combine in Arizona that would help determine his fate, he found guidance from an unexpected source.
Mission in mind
Andy Gillham might seem an unlikely candidate to work with a placekicker. The founder of Ludus Consulting in Sioux Falls has a background in strength and conditioning and doesn't pretend to understand the mechanics of booting the ball through the uprights.
But Gillham has found a niche in sports performance and consulting, working with coaches, teams and individual athletes to maximize their potential.
Brian Maher worked with Gillham’s wife and decided to give him a call to talk about Brett. Before long, they were breaking down the mental aspect of one of the most pressure-filled jobs in sports.
“One thing I stressed to Brett is that it’s OK to give a damn,” says Gillham, who has a doctorate in sports psychology and has worked with gymnasts, figure skaters and golfers. “It’s OK to be nervous and concerned about your reputation and not wanting to let your family and teammates down. Once athletes buy into that, it becomes less about fighting those feelings and more about using them to their advantage.”
As Brett headed to the kicking combine in Arizona and drew a training camp invitation from the Cowboys, he clung to a piece of much-paraphrased advice: “It’s not about getting rid of the butterflies. It’s about getting them to fly in formation.”
That came in handy the day after that emotional phone call between father and son, when Dallas was cutting players left and right and Brett, who would come much cheaper than Bailey’s salary, still had a job.
With the cutdown deadline looming and Brian preparing to leave for the Presidents Bowl at Howard Wood Field, word broke that Bailey had been released. That led to a flurry of texts and calls, including one from family friend Kris Brown, a former All-Pro kicker who spent 12 seasons in the NFL.
“Brownie,” said Brian, “I don’t know what the situation is yet.”
“Are you kidding?” said Brown, noting that the deadline had passed. “Brian, it’s a done deal. He made the team.”
Brett confirmed that news about an hour later, setting in motion a whirlwind of events that consumed the entire family. Because of the uncertainty of Brett’s situation, Jenna had committed to her job as an elementary school teacher in Lincoln for the school year, a promise she didn’t intend to break.
During the season, while she’s teaching, Peg watches Maela and Laekyn during the day while Brian supervises the public schools in Sioux Falls and Brett kicks for the Cowboys.
“Brett makes in two games what Jenna makes in a whole year,” said Brian of his son’s $480,000 salary. “They had the financial wherewithal to walk away from (the teaching job), but good teachers are hard to find and they decided to stick it out. I’m just as proud of that as seeing Brett’s dream come to fruition.”
Alive and kicking
For the Mahers, memorable moments have arrived on a near-weekly basis, like a live-action scrapbook bursting at the seams.
On Sept. 30, Brian and Peg watched as their son kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cowboys a 26-24 home win over Detroit, setting off a raucous celebration at AT&T Stadium. Someone snapped a picture of the proud parents hugging, with the image of Brett being mobbed by his teammates on the Jumbotron in the background.
“That was about as much pressure as you could draw up for somebody, and he had a big day," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the game. "He really should be applauded."
Maher nailed another game-winner on Nov. 18 on the road against Atlanta, making up for a missed extra point earlier in the game. And he made history three weeks at home against Philadelphia, drilling a 62-yard field goal at the end of the first half that broke Bailey’s record of 56 yards for the longest kick in franchise history.
By that time, Maher was getting accustomed to being mobbed by his teammates. His total of 29 field goals this season (on 36 attempts) ranks seventh among NFL kickers.
"To be honest I don’t hear a lot of it – it’s just a lot of loud noises," he said of the on-field celebrations. "I try to make sure I keep my chin strap buckled up so I don’t get hurt."
Another special moment came on Dec. 16, when the Cowboys traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Though Dallas suffered a shutout loss, being on the same field with Vinatieri revealed with full-circle certainty that Maher had reached his goal.
With Vinatieri’s four Super Bowl rings, all-time leading scorer status and Hall of Fame resume, it’s hard to draw comparisons. But both he and Maher were exceptional all-around high school athletes who bring competitive intensity to their role.
Following in the tradition of Vinatieri chasing down Herschel Walker to save a touchdown as a rookie, Maher made an open-field tackle against Seattle's Tyler Lockett last week that helped the Cowboys escape with a 24-22 playoff win.
The connection extends to the kickers' families. Sioux Falls city councilor Christine Erickson, who is Vinatieri's younger sister, plans to exchange autographed footballs with Brian Maher as the NFL postseason continues.
While Erickson and her family head to Kansas City to watch Indianapolis face the Chiefs, Brett and Peg will join Jenna for a trip west as the Cowboys face the Rams in NFC divisional round action at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
This magnificent journey that started with a phone call four months ago could end any moment, a razor-edged reality that the Mahers are willing to accept.
"The NFL stands for Not For Long," shrugs Brian. "But we're enjoying every single minute along the way."
Argus Leader Media columnist Stu Whitney can be reached at swhitney@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter @stuwhitney
https://www.argusleader.com/story/n...r-got-leg-up-sioux-falls-his-side/2515730002/
