Adversity doesn't deter Bucs' Kyle Brindza on way to NFLGreg Auman, Times Staff WriterThursday, September 17, 2015 7:08pm
Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Kyle Brindza volunteers during lunch at Trinity Cafe on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. Brindza and other Buccaneers rookies served meals and sat with guests of the Trinity Cafe during lunch. Eve Edelheit/The Tampa Bay Times via APTAMPA — When Tiffany Brindza saw her son Kyle for the first time, his feet were already in casts.Born with clubfoot, a deformity in which an infant's foot or feet are turned severely inward, he would grow up in casts and braces, doctors telling his mother he may never walk normally, may never play sports.He had six corrective surgeries as a child, the last in sixth grade to cut the Achilles tendon in his right foot so it could be extended to allow for more normal extension. Again, doctors told him he'd miss an entire season of soccer, but he was back in goal a month later.Today, that right foot has made him the Bucs' starting placekicker. And once you've overcome what he has, how hard is it really to make an NFL roster as an undrafted rookie?"I've gone through a lot of adversity, a lot of obstacles," said Brindza, who finished his college career as Notre Dame's all-time leader with 57 field goals. "They did a great job on it, and I'm here today. I look at what I did, to be able to overcome everything to be able to make my dream come true."That dream was realized Sunday when he had the opening kickoff — for the Bucs season and his NFL career — and went 2-for-2 on extra points in a loss to the Titans, his mother watching proudly from the stands."This is something I didn't ever think possible," she said from her home in Michigan. "Even in high school, never would I have thought he would even get a college scholarship out of kicking, with everything he went through."Brindza, 22, still has the scars on his feet, and his right calf is slightly smaller than his left because of surgeries. In high school, he would cover up his scars rather than have to explain them, but now he embraces them as part of what's made him who he is. On June 3, which is World Clubfoot Day, he tweeted that he was "blessed to be born with this birth defect."At 6 feet and 230 pounds, Brindza is the NFL's second-biggest kicker, behind Raiders veteran and former FSU standout Sebastian Janikowski (6-1, 258). Brindza takes pride in pushing himself in the weight room — at Notre Dame's pro day, he did 21 reps at 225 pounds in the bench press, which is more than all but three defensive backs had at the NFL combine."In high school, I didn't want to be seen as just the kicker. I wanted to get away from that stereotype," said Brindza, who as a junior and senior at Plymouth High School in Michigan was the strongest player on his team. "At the end of the day, if it comes to the fourth quarter and you miss a kick, those guys have your back because you're sweating in the weight room with them."The added strength helps his distance on field goals and on kickoffs — two of his three kickoffs Sunday were touchbacks, the other deep enough it was only returned to the 11-yard line. And the strength gives him confidence if he's the last one stopping a potential return touchdown."I'm a big dude. I'm strong for a kicker," he said. "When it comes down to it, are you going to be able to make a tackle?"Brindza went undrafted this spring but shined with the Lions, hitting three field goals of 40-plus yards while also punting and handling kickoffs. The Bucs traded tight end Tim Wright to Detroit to get Brindza, and he connected on field goals of 55 and 57 yards in the final preseason game — his long in four years at Notre Dame was 53 — to clinch the job, beating out two kickers who were NFL starters in 2014.Brindza hasn't attempted an NFL field goal yet, but he had his share of big kicks at Notre Dame — a field goal in triple overtime to beat Pitt, another winner against Purdue with seven seconds left, five field goals in a win against Southern Cal, and another five in a bowl win to match an NCAA record.Bucs coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht had confidence in Brindza to keep him over two more proven kickers from camp, and he'll have plenty of chances to validate their faith in him as the season unfolds."He has a strong leg and, of course, accuracy is big, just as important," Smith said. "He's been fairly accurate, and why wouldn't you like him? There's nothing to dislike, and we're just lucky we have him on our team."
