Won't Be Long Before Grady Gross Kicks a 50-Yarder for UW

Outrageous kick distances are popping up everywhere in football these days.

Huskies place-kicker Grady Gross celebrates his game-winning field goal that beat Washington State in the Apple Cup. / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday night, Jason Myers easily connected on a 58-yard field goal in the Seattle Seahawks' final exhibition game. Earlier in the day in Ireland, Florida State's Ryan Fitzgerald made a 59-yarder look routine in the Seminoles' season opener against Georgia Tech. The Baltimore Ravens' Justin Tucker, who has a record 66-yard 3-pointer to his name for real, recently made news by hitting a 68-yarder in camp.

Yes, kicking distances everywhere are up significantly. Facetiously, these are legs on steroids. With these typically fourth-down players getting in the best shape of their lives, there's no telling how far can anyone go.

And since you asked, the University of Washington's Grady Gross is right up, threatening to enter another stratosphere, too.

Before the fall intrasquad game a week ago, the junior place-kicker from Scottsdale, Arizona, probably didn't think anyone was really watching when he warmed up by drilling a good handful of long-distance field-goal attempts through the uprights -- with the longest one at 58 yards clearing by a wide margin.

When it counted later, the 5-foot-11, 218-pound Gross proceeded to connect on field goals of 37, 47 and 50, with each kick showing a lot of clearance.

Once Jedd Fisch took over this UW football team, he didn't have much to work with in terms of returning starters, yet he walked into a gold mine of proven kickers with punter Jack McCallister and Gross back from the run to the CFP national championship game.

McCallister, a 6-foot, 205-pound junior from Edmonds, Washington, enters his third season as the Huskies' starting punter, holding a career 41.4-yard average per kick. During fall camp open to the media, he regularly hit spirals 50-55 yards.

Grady Gross (95) converts a field goal in the Huskies' 52-42 victory over USC. / Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

Gross, likewise a junior, converted on 18 of 22 field-goal tries and all 63 of his extra-point kicks after replacing Peyton Henry last season. His longest make of 47 against Arizona State also was his longest attempt, with Kalen DeBoer's staff often having the offense go for it on fourth down whenever around midfield. He was 7 for 8 from 40 yards or longer.

Of course, Gross decided the Apple Cup with a walk-off 42-yard field goal that made the Huskies a 24-21 winner over Washington State and earned him a UW scholarship on the spot.

A 50-yarder would seem to be all that's lacking on Gross' resume with two seasons remaining, something that likely will happen multiple times before he's done.

The only real question is far can he go with that big foot of his?

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