Mike Keith: Nedney's Kick, BIG!
The View From The Voice January 12, 2003

Just after the Titans signed kicker Joe Nedney in the spring of 2001, he ventured out with us for several stops on the Titans Caravan. At the last stop of the day in Murfreesboro , Nedney got some sage advice from a fan:

'If you just make them all, you'll do fine.'

Joe laughed. I laughed.

But we both knew that the gentleman wasn't really kidding. 'Making them all' is the expectation for a kicker in the NFL.

Nedney actually expects to make them all.

So when Nedney wandered onto to the field to try a 31 yarder to win Saturday's AFC Divisional playoff game with Pittsburgh in overtime, everyone figured that he would make it. He did make the kick, but it didn't count because the Steelers called timeout just before the snap.

The guy who runs the fireworks at the Coliseum didn't realize that there had been a timeout and shot off all of the game-winning pyrotechnics.

Everyone laughed, but it was clearly bad karma. No one likes to assume anything, especially in a playoff game.

When the kick really happened moments later, Nedney missed. A chip shot, a kick that Nedney never misses.

It only seemed to fit on a night that the Titans had committed four turnovers and 92 yards in penalties (including a 35 yard pass interference that set up a Steeler score).

But there was intervention for Nedney. He was run into by Steeler defensive back Dewayne Washington. A five yard penalty was accessed and Nedney would get another shot from 26 yards.

This time, he made it and Tennessee advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

Will Nedney be shaken from the experience? Will he lose confidence?

No...to both questions.

Because Nedney made the last one, he made the one that counted. For a kicker, it is what you do on your last kick. Even if that kick was the third in a sequence.

No one remembers that Joe Nedney was 25 of 31 on field goals this past season.

No one remembers the 42 yarder that he nailed into the wind to tie the Saturday's game at 31-all with 5:40 left.

No one cuts Nedney any slack for the high snap that threw off his timing on a missed 48 yarder at the end of regulation.

They just remember the last one. For Nedney and for the Titans, thank goodness that he made it.

Saturday was Joe Nedney's first career playoff game. Here's betting that his harrowing experience will make him stronger and even better for the future. He has the right mindset (relaxed) to handle such an experience.

After all, if he just makes them all, everything will be fine.
*****
We received several calls on our post-game show on Saturday with people asking about the hit that caused Eddie George's concussion. On the play, the first of the second half, Pittsburgh nose guard Casey Hampton hit George helmet-to-helmet, knocking George out and causing him to fumble.

Fans want to know why Hampton wasn't penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

According to Jeff Fisher, there is no rule prohibiting such a hit on the running back on a running play. Defenders are prohibited from hitting quarterbacks and vulnerable pass receivers helmet-to-helmet, but a back like George is not protected by the rule .

Thus, Hampton 's hit was totally legal.