I know it's been discussed before, but it never gets old for me. Ficken went from a punchline to an NFL kicker. He was a good student at Penn State, too. Success With Honor.
We all remember Ficken's struggles in 2012. We had just entered the sanction era. Everyone hated us (
). We had lost the season opener to Ohio. Then Ficken missed four field goals at Virginia. 0-2. As an illustration of our culture problem ( ), Robbie Gould reached out to Ficken with words of encouragement. Ficken worked on his game. By season's end, Ficken was automatic, and he helped upset Wisconsin. To open the 2013 season, Ficken kicked the winning field goal in Ireland against UCF. Another good year for Ficken.
A lot of people out there enjoyed watching Ficken miss four field goals against Virginia. For some, it was a sign that we were cursed and should not be playing football. Ficken and a lot of others proved them wrong. Ficken became one of the best kickers in America, and Penn State came back and had a winning season in 2012 and another winning season in 2013 (bowl-eligible both years). Of course, we saw how the program, under James Franklin, continued to improve in the ensuing years.
I am thankful to a lot of quality student-athletes, including Sam Ficken, for holding the Penn State program of Success With Honor together in those difficult years. There's no looking back. As for Ficken in the NFL, watching the Rams and Chargers today, it was great to see our guy make a touchdown-saving tackle on a kickoff (just after a made extra point). Good for him.
We all remember Ficken's struggles in 2012. We had just entered the sanction era. Everyone hated us (
). We had lost the season opener to Ohio. Then Ficken missed four field goals at Virginia. 0-2. As an illustration of our culture problem ( ), Robbie Gould reached out to Ficken with words of encouragement. Ficken worked on his game. By season's end, Ficken was automatic, and he helped upset Wisconsin. To open the 2013 season, Ficken kicked the winning field goal in Ireland against UCF. Another good year for Ficken.A lot of people out there enjoyed watching Ficken miss four field goals against Virginia. For some, it was a sign that we were cursed and should not be playing football. Ficken and a lot of others proved them wrong. Ficken became one of the best kickers in America, and Penn State came back and had a winning season in 2012 and another winning season in 2013 (bowl-eligible both years). Of course, we saw how the program, under James Franklin, continued to improve in the ensuing years.
I am thankful to a lot of quality student-athletes, including Sam Ficken, for holding the Penn State program of Success With Honor together in those difficult years. There's no looking back. As for Ficken in the NFL, watching the Rams and Chargers today, it was great to see our guy make a touchdown-saving tackle on a kickoff (just after a made extra point). Good for him.
