Cowboys Blitzcast: Why's Special-Teams Coach Getting A Pass?

In The Cowboys Blitzcast, We Discuss The Week In Dallas, Wonder If Special-Teams Boss Fassel Is Getting A Pass, And Ponder The Death of The Barefoot Kicker

FRISCO - There are some iconic things about the NFL I remember as a teenager in the 1980’s. Watching Monday Night Football with my dad, big shoulder pads, big hits, “The Catch”, Cris Collinsworth contact lens TV commercials, and Steve Pelluer. 

OK, maybe not so "iconic'', but they’re my 80’s football memories, nonetheless.

Welcome to the Dallas Cowboys Blitzcast by Drunk Sports and DSP Media in partnership with CowboysSI.com. Colby Sapp and Timm “IndyCarTim” Hamm are your hosts as we discuss all things Dallas Cowboys and all things NFL.

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So, owner Jerry Jones says, “I love our special-teams coach.''

While we ponder that, and the general subject of special teams in Dallas - last year felt like all-time bad, but this year with guru coordinator Bones Fassel feels ... more fun but just as bad - something else I cannot ever forget that's 1980-ish is the barefoot kicker. 

As a kid I was always enamored with the guy with one shoe trotting out on the field in Philadelphia in December to kick a 45-yard field goal to win the game. 

Barefoot. No sock, no shoe, and perfectly-trimmed toenails.

Why? I always thought. What’s the point? It’s COOOOOLD!

Turns out that “guy,'' one of the last barefoot kickers in the league, was former Aggies great Tony Franklin. I did a little investigating as to why this was a "thing,'' and possibly why it’s not anymore.

There were two schools of thought, but neither one makes much sense to me today. 

The first was that the kicker gets a better “feel” for the ball going straight skin-to-ball. The trajectory and the force could all be “felt” better by the kicker’s foot than the shoe. I read during this research that an unnamed barefoot kicker once said, "Making a kicker wear a shoe is like making a quarterback wear mittens.''

The second theory, and maybe the more absurd, was that shoes and socks absorb kinetic energy, so kicking barefoot created more force to the ball. People who subscribed to this second theory also argue that barefoot kicking disappeared after the invention of the American soccer cleat, which had less padding than normal tennis shoes of the time.

So what happened? There are also two schools of thought for this, too: Shoes and weather. 

Shoe technology has come a long way since the 70’s. (Just ask Phil Knight.) At the time, barefoot kickers liked the way they thought they could control the ball with raw skin than the shoe technology of the time allowed. With newer designs and shoes specifically created for kicking, new kickers on the scene became more used to those. 

In the 90’s you’d see kickers wearing two different shoes. Morten Anderson wore two different shoes including one of the first specially designed “kicking shoes” that cost him $5000 each … Not for a “pair.''

By the 2000’s kicking shoes were the norm and the barefoot kicker was all but extinct.

Even though most barefoot kickers kicked well in cold weather, we know the NFL is a league of “trends,” Teams copy other teams who are successful. Players imitate other players who are successful. When a barefoot kicker missed a kick in a snowy game all other kickers and teams took note for whatever reason, and suddenly barefoot kickers can’t play in cold weather. 

Perception is reality in the NFL.

In all of this, in the entire history of the NFL, there were only nine kickers and punters who preferred flesh over leather.

The aforementioned Franklin came into the league from Texas A&M, where in he had kicks of 65 and 64 yards in the same game. He would go on to play in two Super Bowls and one Pro Bowl. 

Rich Karlis played from 1982-1990 with the game-winning field goal over the Browns in the 1987 AFC Championship game for the Broncos in frigid temperatures. Others of note who kicked barefoot in the league were Mike Langsford (1982-1990), Paul McFadden (1984-1990), Jeff Wilkins (1994-2007, kicked barefoot for seven games in 2002), and Dave Warnke, who kicked barefoot for one game in 1983.

The Cowboys' Fassel has a long-standing reputation for experimentation and risk. No, I'm not suggesting Greg Zuerlein trot onto the AT&T Stadium field Sunday against the Niners without his shoe.

I am saying how delighted a 1980's NFL fan would be if he did ... until he missed the kick, at which time I'd be as infuriated at the 4-9 Cowboys as all of us have been all year.

We talk about all that and much more in the Blitzcast ...

Special thanks to CowboysSI.com as well as Stonebriar Country Club for making this episode possible. And feel free to message us anytime via email at TheCowboysBlitzcast@gmail.com. We can’t wait to hear from you and Go Cowboys! 

Please follow the discussion further with us on Twitter: @IndyCarTim, @ColbySapp, @DrunkBigRed, and @BlitzcastNFL.