"She was terrible..."
Aspiring National Football League (NFL) place kicker Lauren Silberman had her chance at making history, but ended up falling exceedingly short blaming a sudden injury, as reported by USA TODAY via Pacific Daily News on March 4, 2013.
Male kickers at the league's New York/New Jersey regional scouting combine were booming the ball 55 yards splitting the goalposts, according to USA Today.
But the CBS affiliate in New York reports that Silberman's two kicks were a mere 19 and "about" 13 yards.
The only woman player ever to score a point in the history of NCAA Football, Katie Hnida was quoted by USA TODAY as stating of Silberman's efforts during a telephone interview:
"Unfortunately, what's going to happen now is she's going to be looked at (as inferior) because she was female.
But she was terrible."
Hnida's sigh-packed response after viewing the video of Silberman's efforts: (See video, left)
"'I saw the video,' Hnida said with a sigh. 'I saw the video.'"
An Embarassment To The Sport...?
What the video didn't show was the 20-second period prior to the kick in which Silberman simply didn't master the complexities making the football properly stand on the tee without it falling over.
Reportedly, Hnida fell silent on the other end of the phone when told that.
Hnida also didn't have the opportunity to view the "awkward nine steps backward and five steps sideways as Silberman lined up 6 yards behind the ball instead of the standard approach of 10 or more yards."
Silberman reportedly elected not to take any practice kicks prior to her try-outs, saying she was "nursing her injury, an injury combine officials said they had no idea she'd suffered."
"I also find it curious she didn't warm up. You never go in kicking cold," Hnida said. "There's a reason why the kickers are the first people out there. It takes us a while to warm up."
But I Played The Video Game...
In an interview with London's The Guardian, Silberman related an interesting tale of her training to qualify for a spot at the regional combine:
"Sport video games have enabled me to learn about the game at this level, visualize myself on the field, and mentally prepare for possible game scenarios, and much more."
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