UCLA kicker Chris Griffith has quite a selective memory. The
fifth-year senior chooses to remember the misses, never the
makes.
He remembers, of course, the potential game-winning 50-yard
field goal attempt last year against Oregon that fell short and
wide right. The Bruins suffered their third straight final-minute
loss.
“He kicked the dirt first, but I do that with my
wedgeshot,” head coach Bob Toledo said with a laugh.
Griffith also remembers the time his redshirt freshman year when
he got into a motorcycle accident on a Friday and nearly missed the
game. Afraid of losing his job, Griffith stuck it out, hitting two
field goals with lacerations up the side of his right leg.
Ever since walking onto the team in 1998, one thing that
Griffith has never lost is his perseverance.
“It was a disappointing loss, but I didn’t feel like
I failed,” Griffith said of the Oregon game. “I walked
out of the stadium that day, just like any other game ““ with
my head held high.
And with regards to going 6-of-10 in field goals this
season?
“I know I can make every kick, and I should make every
kick. If I fail in my job, I’m pissed until the next week, until I
get my next opportunity.”
Toledo, after watching Griffith score 240 points for the Bruins
in his career, sixth on the all-time list, has the same confidence
in him.
“He’s a pretty strong-willed guy ““ not your
typical kicker,” Toledo said. “He has a lot of
confidence in his ability, and I have a lot of confidence in
him.”
Besides kicking for Douglas High in Minden, Nev., Griffith was
also a star quarterback, defensive back and punter. He was
recruited as a quarterback by San Diego and UC Davis, but came to
Westwood without a scholarship and was needed after Hayden Epstein,
the nation’s top high school kicker, committed to Michigan at
the last minute.
At first, even though Griffith won the starting job as a
redshirt freshman over players including eventual all-conference
punter Nate Fikse, he hated his job.
“All I did was kick, sit around and watch the other guys
do everything I did for four years in high school,” Griffith
said.
He didn’t want to be the lonesome kicker, so he talked
himself onto the scout team as a wide receiver.
After a while, Griffith did grow into his role as a kicker. He
earned a scholarship in 2000 and is now willing to spend practice
kicking balls against a chain-linked fence. It’s game day
that counts.
“I love the pressure of kicking,” Griffith said.
“It’s a rush. It’s a natural high being out
there. Every eye in the stadium and on TV is on you.”
Still, there is always that stigma of being a kicker. Just ask
fellow fifth-year senior and long snapper Rusty Williams.
What’s he like as a football player? How about as a
kicker? He doesn’t do anything all day. He works for five
minutes, and then he goes in the locker room and watches
TV.”
For the record, Griffith denies the accusation.
“We kind of envy the kickers,” Williams continued.
“We all play football and bust our asses everyday, but when
you look over there, and they’re just standing around,
you’re like, “˜Oooh motherf…'”
Williams shook his head.
“If they do their job good, stand over there all
day.”
Well, perhaps Toledo puts it best. “Nobody thinks much
about the kicker, but they’re expected to be 100 percent
perfect all the time.”