Choking In Sports Essays (1680 words) - , Term Papers

Choking In Sports Want to know why athletes choke and what it does for their careers? Mitch Williams and Scott Norwood are two players that choked in big games and lost their careers because of it. They played in two different sports, but had similar positions. I will go through each position and what the NFL and MLB expect of these players. I will show you what kind of pressure Mitch Williams and Scott Norwood went through. I used sports web sites to find this information. I think that choking affects so many people and the outcome of games. Fantastic athletes that do there job with ease, but when it comes down to the big game, they play like how you and I would play. First, lets examine what a kickers job is in the sport of football. The kicker is a specialist whos sole purpose is to kick the football through the uprights. In the NFL, if the kicker fails to kick the field goal in about 80 to 90 percent of the time, the kicker is released or fired. This is the way the NFL is. The trick to being a gre at NFL kicker is consistency. The kicker makes, at average, the league minimum which is $250,000 a year. They only receive one to two year contracts. The biggest being Morten Andersen, who is one of the greatest kickers of all time. His contract is for about five years, all not guaranteed, for $870,000 dollars a year. There are reasons for this. The big thing for kickers in the NFL these days are a strong legged kicker who can make 50+ yard field goals. Most teams are all looking for the Morten Andersens. John Hall has one of the biggest legs in the business, but he only made 18 field goals out of 27 tries. This is not a good average, but since he can make these long field goal with ease, he keeps his job. Most of the kickers hired are fired within only two years because they cannot keep this same standard and not have a toll on them physically and mentally. Norwood missed a field goal in super bowl XXV, Obviously, it ended his career. Actually, Norwood came back and kicked one more season (1991) for the Bills, but he was never the same. He's now retired and lives in Virginia. Jacke, a noted long-range kicker, made 77.8 percent of his field-goal attempts (21 of 27) that season, although he was seldom tested in pressure situations. Vinatieri was under more pressure -- and stayed busier -- making 27 of 35 FG attempts. Jacke came out of Texas-El Paso. On the surface, he is more laid-back than Vinatieri. Inside, they are both the same nervous. Kickers cringe at the thought of the game having to be in their hands, and rightfully so. They dont hang out with the rest of the team, they are basically outcast. Yet, they are supposed to come in and win the game for their team. They know that if they miss, in any game not just the Super Bowl, they might lose their job and in the case of Scott Norwood the rest of their career. With four seconds left and the Bills trailing the Giants 20-19, Norwood missed wide right on a 47-yard attempt, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl title in five seasons. Norwood never lived it down. In fact, during that season's playoffs, he declined on occasion to discuss the kick. In his seven-year NFL career, Norwood made 72 percent of his field goals, but his percentage dropped steadily, from 86 percent in 1988 to 62 percent. Those close to Norwood claim he hasn't been affected by the intense scrutiny. But make no mistake, he hears the whispers around town. Scott Norwood was one of the best kickers in the league until the kick. Now think to yourself What if he would have made it? The answer would be that I wouldnt have much a paper to write. I believe that due to the stress of missing that kick, he was no longer able to be the kicker he once was. Now god knows that some players can bounce