Now that the dust has settled...

[KingBash]

I just feel bad for Carlson. Dude's career might be over. Not because he won't get another shot. He might. But I don't think he has the mental toughness to get over this.

Treadwell on the other hand... pretty much had it with him. He can go. 

[Guest]

I agree with you.  Even rookie D Backs and QB's struggle with the bright lights when they enter their first couple games.  The difference is that they can be benched until they can handle it. 
Kickers don't have that luxury because nobody carries extra kickers and the only way to feel the full pressure of that one moment/kick is to live through the fire.
Maybe we should have seen it coming when he missed back to back kicks in preseason.

[Guest]

I hoped for the best with Carlson after week 1. But...

One thing I kind of wonder about is this. Right at the end of pre-season the Vikings cut Carlson’s holder on FG’s/XP’s when they changed punters.
Does anyone think that may have played into some of this? You still have to make those kicks, but I wonder if that change didn’t mess with his head a little more.

[Guest]

The day after I'm ok with Treadwell on the team. Moved down the depth chart. I get we can't just cut him because of the dead cap hit. Carlson chose to be an NFL kicker. Job security is never in their job description. Can't imagine when he got drafted there was any notion in his mind that his 1st stop would last 2 games. He might not have the mental makeup. Hard to figure how he made it through a college season though. 

[Guest]

@suncoastvike said:
The day after I'm ok with Treadwell on the team. Moved down the depth chart. I get we can't just cut him because of the dead cap hit. Carlson chose to be an NFL kicker. Job security is never in their job description. Can't imagine when he got drafted there was any notion in his mind that his 1st stop would last 2 games. He might not have the mental makeup. Hard to figure how he made it through a college season though. 

I think they call it the yips. Physical attributes aside, I could never be a professional athlete haha. I'm HORRENDOUS when there's pressure on. 

We were up a TD a couple years ago in flag football. All we had to do was stop the offense. I was free safety and playing deep. For whatever reason, just a horrible miscommunication, the QB hurled a bomb with literally no receiver within 20 yards. I was sitting back there and it was thrown right to me. Catch it, kneel on offense, and we win the championship. (Did I mention that yet? This was for everything.)

You know how this ends. It went right through my hands. And I knew it would. I started like physically shaking when I was the ball coming toward me haha.

The other team went on to score on that drive but luckily, no thanks to me, my offense drove down and scored after that and won. Had we not, I'd have felt remotely like Carlson...

[Guest]

@Riphawkins said:
I hoped for the best with Carlson after week 1. But...

One thing I kind of wonder about is this. Right at the end of pre-season the Vikings cut Carlson’s holder on FG’s/XP’s when they changed punters.
Does anyone think that may have played into some of this? You still have to make those kicks, but I wonder if that change didn’t mess with his head a little more.

I don't think that helped. Weil seemed like he was handling the holds well, but changing up Carlson's kicking process when he was already struggling may not have been great. He never got a chance to really get comfortable & once he started making mistakes in regular season games, then things snowballed on him.

I feel bad for him on a personal level. It's not like he wanted to miss those kicks, but he was missing them badly, and it was clear that he was off mentally. Hopefully, he gets picked up on a practice squad somewhere and gets some time to work with a sports psychologist & kicking coach. Though the hardest thing for him is that it will be a while before a team trusts him to kick in a meaningful game, so he'll live with this performance for a while.

[Guest]

@KingBash said:

@suncoastvike said:
The day after I'm ok with Treadwell on the team. Moved down the depth chart. I get we can't just cut him because of the dead cap hit. Carlson chose to be an NFL kicker. Job security is never in their job description. Can't imagine when he got drafted there was any notion in his mind that his 1st stop would last 2 games. He might not have the mental makeup. Hard to figure how he made it through a college season though. 

I think they call it the yips. Physical attributes aside, I could never be a professional athlete haha. I'm HORRENDOUS when there's pressure on. 

We were up a TD a couple years ago in flag football. All we had to do was stop the offense. I was free safety and playing deep. For whatever reason, just a horrible miscommunication, the QB hurled a bomb with literally no receiver within 20 yards. I was sitting back there and it was thrown right to me. Catch it, kneel on offense, and we win the championship. (Did I mention that yet? This was for everything.)

You know how this ends. It went right through my hands. And I knew it would. I started like physically shaking when I was the ball coming toward me haha.

The other team went on to score on that drive but luckily, no thanks to me, my offense drove down and scored after that and won. Had we not, I'd have felt remotely like Carlson...

I’m like 50/50 when the pressure is on. kind of like Treadwell. haha

But, I get paid to make steel, not catch footballs.

[Guest]

God I hate er am distrustful of Kickers...

[Guest]

I feel bad for Carlson as one human being to another. It's a lot of pressure and some people can't handle it. And he was honest when he said he didn't have confidence. Clearly it was in his head. He was totally rattled. It's sad but the reality is he can't miss those opportunities. Hopefully he gets his mind right. Maybe he works with a sports psychologist. 

As far as Treadwell is concerned, it's just so damn aggravating. There are times that I wonder what he is doing out there. I think it's in his head too. But this is make or break time. Someone else is going to take advantage of the opportunity he is about to lose. 

[Guest]

@KingBash said:

@suncoastvike said:
The day after I'm ok with Treadwell on the team. Moved down the depth chart. I get we can't just cut him because of the dead cap hit. Carlson chose to be an NFL kicker. Job security is never in their job description. Can't imagine when he got drafted there was any notion in his mind that his 1st stop would last 2 games. He might not have the mental makeup. Hard to figure how he made it through a college season though. 

I think they call it the yips. Physical attributes aside, I could never be a professional athlete haha. I'm HORRENDOUS when there's pressure on. 

We were up a TD a couple years ago in flag football. All we had to do was stop the offense. I was free safety and playing deep. For whatever reason, just a horrible miscommunication, the QB hurled a bomb with literally no receiver within 20 yards. I was sitting back there and it was thrown right to me. Catch it, kneel on offense, and we win the championship. (Did I mention that yet? This was for everything.)

You know how this ends. It went right through my hands. And I knew it would. I started like physically shaking when I was the ball coming toward me haha.

The other team went on to score on that drive but luckily, no thanks to me, my offense drove down and scored after that and won. Had we not, I'd have felt remotely like Carlson...

years ago i was playing a game of touch football in Central Park in New York. it was a regular Sunday pick up game kind of thing. No real pressure.  One Sunday my buddy was playing deep—just like you-and the the ball came his way with no receiver really anywhere near him.  All he had to do was catch it.  We all watched as the ball got closer.   He started shouting, “Oh no, oh no, OH NO!”. It made me laugh so hard I fell down.  And I’ve never forgotten it either.  We all know that feeling of fear that we won’t be able to deliver when the pressure is on.  I laughed because it struck such a chord.  it seemed to sum up how we all feel about pressure sometimes.  Your not alone KB!