Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Even-keeled Nate Freese wins kicking job

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Not much appears to get to Nate Freese and for the Detroit Lions, that could be a good thing.

His demeanor, through good and bad, remains remarkably the same. He stayed the same after a rough first few days of Detroit Lions training camp last month and had the same reactions after making a 55-yard field goal on the dirt in Oakland.

It's a kick that might have sealed the news Freese received Monday -- that he won the starting kicker job over Giorgio Tavecchio and will join a club that includes Jason Hanson and Eddie Murray as rookies to kick for the Lions.

"He's a pretty even-keeled dude," his holder, Sam Martin, said.

After he made that 55-yarder, Martin said he was essentially the same as before he made the kick. Calm. Collected. Focused. Not much was going to get to him, even after he made a very difficult kick.

So when he ran into Giorgio Tavecchio and Drew Butler before he arrived at the Lions facility Monday and they essentially told him he won the job -- he indicated his reaction was somewhat muted.

Of course, Freese says he never doubted he would win the job because his approach is always the same. Try to make the next kick.

"As a kicker, you always want to be positive," Freese said. "You want to think like, you know, you want to have the mindset that this is my job and I need to do my very best every single day or I'm not going to have this job.

"So that's my mindset."

Lions coach Jim Caldwell didn't really go into specifics about why the team went with Freese over Tavecchio other than to continually say it was a very close competition and pointing out Freese's massive kick in Oakland.

In the way of the NFL, that can be all the difference. And Caldwell seemed confident Freese would remain as the team's kicker, even as veterans like Jay Feely -- who was released by Arizona -- end up on the market.

"This league is one where you don't ever stand pat, obviously. But obviously he's the guy we chose and he's the best guy for the job," Caldwell said. "Otherwise we'd tell ya that we'd open it up and look around and those kinds of things.

"But Nate's done a tremendous job and I think you'll continue to see him get better."

^ Back to Top ^