Sept. 18, 2008
Jarrett Huk will handle kickoffs and field goals for the Idaho State football team when the Bengals host North Dakota in the 2008 home opener at 6:35 tonight at Holt Arena. Growing up, though, Huk was raised on a different kind of football - the brand where you can't use your hands, blatantly tackling the other guy is discouraged and putting the ball on the ground is the whole point. And oh yeah - when people give you the universal sign for "It's Good!" after a kick, it's a huge insult.
Despite never playing a down of football in high school, Huk developed into quite the place kicker in two years of junior college, and he had a number of offers coming out of Chabot College in Hayward, Calif. Huk took time out during a recent practice to discuss adjusting to football kicking, pressure, and the similarities between himself and a certain TV physician.
Q: You never played football in high school. How rare do you think it is to be able to kick at the Division I level without coming up through the high school ranks?
A: I know there are a few other guys that did that. There was one at Boston College when I was just starting in junior college. I've heard of it before, but I'm not sure how common it is. It's a pretty good experience for me here, finally getting to the Division I level. It's been exciting.
Q: You were a soccer player, so you could obviously kick, but how hard was it to learn to kick a football, pretty much on the fly at your junior college?
A: Kicking field goals was a little bit easier, because it's similar to soccer kicking. You're just aiming higher. Kicking off was completely different though. It took a lot of time to get that right. There were a lot of missed kicks. I had to kick probably thousands of balls to get it right.
Q: When you make a kick in soccer and someone throws their arms straight up in the air in the universal sign for "It's good!" that's a slap in the face. But that's what you want to see as a football kicker. How different is that?
A: I played mostly forward in soccer, so it was a complete switch. You're trying to keep the ball low and get under the cross bar in soccer. But defenders try to get the ball up and out, so I was lucky to have played a lot of positions in soccer. It was different though, trying to kick it over and get as much height as possible. The accuracy, just picking a spot and hitting it, that stayed pretty much the same.
Q: You didn't go to junior college intending to play football, so tell me how this happened.
A: I always wanted to play football. Growing up, I played catch with my brother. I think a lot of people dream about playing in the NFL or college football. It's just how most American guys grow up. But soccer took charge early. I played on a real competitive soccer team, and that went year round, so football got X'd out. I went to junior college and played soccer, but the football coaches needed a kicker. My parents said "No way, that's stupid, just focus on soccer." But I decided I wanted to try it. I just worked hard at it, and I've been doing well. That was one time it was actually smart to not listen to the parents.
Q: You played some tennis in high school, too, right?
A: Yeah, and at Chabot College. I played soccer, tennis and football in JC. Tennis is the family sport. My brother and sister are both excellent tennis players, and the whole family plays. I always liked the physical aspect of sports, being able to smash people, or just getting hit, too. There's something about that, feeling the aches and pains after. Tennis can beat you up mentally. Sometimes it's not always fun as when you play physical sports - you wish you could go across the net and strangle them. That follows a lot into kicking, though. You have to stay focused, really focused in tennis. A lot of aspects of other sports I played correlate to each other. Focusing on the ball is easier when you've played tennis, when the ball is moving really fast and spinning all over the place.
Q: Talk a little about the pressure a field-goal kicker faces.
A: When I first came into football, I knew about it, but I didn't know a lot of the history and the details. When I went out for the team at Chabot, I didn't know there were stereotypes. My dad had always quoted Garo Yepremian, "I kicked a touchdown!" He still says that. I haven't really dealt with pressure yet. The guys here don't put a lot of pressure on you. I'm sure there are schools where they put a lot more pressure on their kickers. There were high-pressure situations in club soccer, though, too. We won three state championships, went to the finals in four. Then at junior college, the first kick I ever kicked was a 41-yard field goal.
Q: Was it good?
A: It was good. That helped, but then I missed the next PAT. I wasn't nervous when I kicked the first one, because I didn't know I was going in until they told me to go in. But the PAT, I knew I was going to have to kick if we scored, so I was thinking about it. Later that game, with a second left, I kicked a 37-yard field goal to win the game. And that was my first game ever, so that pushed me right into it. That set the stage a little bit, and helped me get that out of my system early. It makes it easier being here - we have the snappers and the holders. In junior college, it's a linebacker, or some other makeshift player who just fills in because someone has to do it.
Q: How much of a culture shock is it moving from California to Idaho?
A: The guys here are great, so it was comfortable right away. I was recruited at a bunch of different schools, but when I came out here, Coach Z sat me down on the couch in his office and said, "You can trust us here." That was a big key, especially as a kicker. You want to feel part of the team and feel like one of the guys. At some places, you're just a kicker, and you go sit by yourself. Here they really care about you and make you feel important. Of course, having my girlfriend (cross country and track athlete Parris Hodges) come out here makes it easier, too, but the coaching staff is great here. That was the biggest factor in where I was going to go. I had to make the call right after I came back from a visit to the University of Memphis. I wasn't sure which one to pick, but it pretty much came down to "Who can I trust? Who do I know is going to treat me right?" I picked Idaho State, and it's turned out great so far.
Q: What's in Jarrett Huk's Ipod?
A: Actually, I have the Iphone, which is really nice. I like to listen to a lot of music. You'll pretty much find everything in there. Some stuff I'm a little more embarrassed about. There's a lot of country, definitely. The new music is the Dazed and Confused soundtrack.
Q: New? That movie is like 15 years old.
A: Yeah, but I just got the soundtrack from a buddy. That's what I'm currently listening to.
Q: What do you do in your head when you know you're going to have to make a big kick at the end of the game?
A: I try to do absolutely nothing. My first year of kicking, I did absolutely nothing and had a great season. My second year, the punter, all he talked about was stats, stats, stats, so I started thinking about stats instead of worrying about what's at hand. Now I just relax, completely blank out and just concentrate on the focus point, the part of the ball I want to hit and just take it nice and easy. The guys make it hard on me sometimes, coming up to tell me "You're about to kick."
Q: No song you sing in your head or motto you repeat to yourself?
A: I like to breathe. I just take deep breaths. That comes from tennis. Right before a point, I tried to focus, bounce the ball and take some deep breaths. Try to lower the blood pressure a little bit. It's just a game. I guess that's what I try to remember. I'm the most competitive person I know. I hate losing, and that's not always a good thing. But I just tell myself it's just a game. That's a good key, because I want to win so bad.
Q: You're up at midnight chomping on a midnight snack. What are you eating?
A: Right now I try to go to bed with a protein shake. I'm trying to pack on the pounds a little bit. I'm getting egged on about the weight right now. Lean Body Muscle Milk.
Q: That's no fun. Out of season, what's the midnight snack?
A: You've never seen somebody eat more ice cream than me. I can probably eat a half-gallon in one sitting.
Q: Are you a Ben & Jerry's guy or a Haagen-Dazs guy?
A: Ben & Jerry's. Cherry Garcia, definitely.
Q: Family Guy? South Park? The Simpsons? Pick your animated series.
A: I don't watch a lot of animated television. Everyone gets mad at me. I don't like Family Guy or South Park. The Simpsons is funny, but I've probably watched about five episodes my whole life. I like to watch football and ESPN.
Q: What's your favorite TV show outside of sports, then?
A: When I'm with my parents, I watched House every week. That's a good show.
Q: Do you identify with Dr. House at all? Are you the same kind of jerk to everyone that he is?
A: I'm not going to say that. I'm not going to deny it either.
