Very interesting article
should be a mandatory read for all the Walsh bashers out there............
I have a client, who happens to be one of Walsh's best friends... Best man at his wedding, co-kicker & roommate at UGA, etc. (This guy kicked off, Blair kicked FG's).
Blair & he and some other friends spent a long while with Blair @ Blair's house in So Cal, before the start of the last season.
They were pretty sure Blair was "over it" (THE MISS).
Blair 'said all the right things... acted normally...wasn't 'obsessing'...' etc. IOW, his 'mind seemed right'.
One thing Blair's friend emphasized, was that there was no need by Vike coaches & fans, to 'get on' Blair on his misses.
Blair was harder on himself, than any coach or fan could be.... and that might explain his 'downfall'.
The sports psychologist quoted in the story, seems to back that up.
That miss vs Seattle... just might have been too YUGE, to overcome, this side of Vinatieri.
Think back to BW's Viking rookie year. PHENOMENAL, no? 10/10 > 50yds... ya kiddin' me?
There's no article on it (that I've found), but that may have been one of the best kicking yrs, in NFL history.
Has to be easily, best rookie kicking yr, ever?
The next yr, BW made his first two, >50 yds, as well. 12/12, on his first attempts > 50 yds!!
Leave it to VikeFans, to have such a promising kicker... be derailed mentally, at a position where mental foils could be the only problem.
Justin Tucker (in his 5th yr) , tied BW's rookie yr, last year, with 10/10 FG's >50.
www.sbnation.com/2016/12/18/13999528/justin-tucker-record-50-yard-fg-single-seasonInterestingly... JT is 70% all-time >50 yds... BW is 71% (70.58, I rounded up) all-time >50 yds.
(while we're comparing, JT is 89.8% made % all FG's/ BW is 84.2%.)
JT is generally considered the best kicker in the league, right now... and BW was cut. One is trending up/one down.
But, eerily similar careers other than that. They even entered the league, the same yr.
^^all that said, I agree with the Vikes decision to cut Walsh, last yr.
It's been said before... but you know Walsh is going to nail a 50+ yarder in a big game, vs Vikes.
It's written in the stars, somewhere. The karma is just too rich. It's a fait accompli.
EDIT: Obviously, a 'personal' post, as I lost a 'Vikes-source/connection', that I might have used to our board's benefit, someday. Even if it twas, a kicker, lol.
From the 'when one door closes, another door opens' dept.... the Vikes recently signed a coach, whose spouse was my roommate/(platonic) friend, for two yrs
in Charleston, Ill, before I moved here (to savannah). & we've re-established, as FB friends.
The Good Lord taketh... then he gives it, right back to the
faithful.
