When you think of determined, fearless, and courageous athletes, you think of Kobe Bryant, Ray Lewis, Mike Tyson, Lawrence Taylor, etc. Those lists don’t usually include an NFL kicker who stands at 6’1″, 187 lbs. straight out of the pool. But Will Reichard isn’t your average kicker.
Born and raised in Hoover, Ala., Reichard’s kicking career began with soccer. He and his father, Gary, would drive all around the country so he could play in travel soccer leagues. Although he was just an average soccer player, his father noticed his kicking leg was much stronger than his peers’ of the same age.
Then he switched to football. At the age of nine, he was already traveling to Nashville and Las Vegas to participate in kicking camps. His soon-to-be high school coach, Josh Niblett, had visited a pee-wee football game when he was just 9-10 years old.
“I look over, and I see this kid kicking into a net on the sidelines with his dad,” Niblett recalled. “I’m like, ‘How many times do you see a kid kicking into a kicking net in pee-wee football?’ Then, a few minutes later, the joker goes out there and kicks the game-winning field goal to win it. I just remember at that point, I’m like, ‘Man, how awesome is that?’”
Most nine-year-olds play video games, eat Doritos, and drink Mountain Dew. However, Reichard was already training like a seasoned vet. He eventually went on to play for Niblett and his hometown Hoover High Bucs. Still, at only 15 years old, he and his family received the heartbreaking news that his father had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Gary passed away one month later. Many 15-year-olds would struggle to overcome that kind of adversity. Instead, Reichard realized he could find solace on the football field as he worked through the emotions of losing his father, the man who had done everything he could to get Will to where he was in his kicking career.
The hard times didn’t stop there. Months after losing his father, he tore his ACL and had to sit out his entire sophomore season. “I lost two of the biggest things I had going for myself, my dad and football,” Will said. “I was lost during that time. I didn’t know what my purpose was. A lot of people in our program helped me get through that time. I also couldn’t have gotten through it without the help of the Lord.”
Two years later, he accomplished one of his childhood dreams when he committed to the University of Alabama, his home state college. At the time, the best team in all of college football. He received more bad news after the first five games of his freshman season for the Crimson Tide. He would have to sit out the remaining games of his freshman season due to a hip flexor injury. Still, none of that stopped him from becoming a National Champion, SEC Special Teams Player of the Year, the all-time NCAA Division I points leader, and flat-out one of the best collegiate kickers ever to hit the field. Will Richard is perseverance personified.
Not only is he a mentally strong young man who has overcome myriad hardships, but he is also a straight dawg on the field, which can surprise people who don’t know him personally.
“If I brought him to any campus of where my current college starters are, they would be fearful of their job if Will came to compete,” longtime kicking coach Chris Sailer said about Reichard when he was only 17. “I will go a step further. I even believe you could put him in an NFL camp right now. He’s that good. He’s ready for the next level. That’s how special Will is. Everyone fears Will, no matter what age he is.”
That’s high praise for a kid who had never even stepped on the collegiate field.
A clip of Reichard went viral after last year’s Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. It highlights the fearlessness that Reichard plays with, hunting down 210 lbs. Jarquez Hunter on a kick return, making the tackle and then standing over him to signal that he’s not to be messed with, regardless of his slender build.
Last April, the Vikings made Reichard just the third kicker selected in the NFL draft by the organization over the last 45 years. The other two were Daniel Carlson and Blair Walsh. Carlson became the player who got away after he missed three field goals against the Green Bay Packers, and the Vikings cut him. Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal that would have beaten the Seattle Seahawks in a 2016 playoff game and was never the same kicker after.
Third time’s a charm, right?
Reichard has shown up in Vikings training camp thus far, going 14 for 16 on field goals during the game simulation portion of practice. His longest came from 55 yards out, which looks like it would’ve been good from 65-plus. Reichard must carry his kicking prowess over to Sundays, but seeing that he can make kicks from way out is very encouraging.
So, can Will Reichard become a franchise kicker for a franchise that has historically had a tough time finding just that? Only time will tell, but Reichard has given Vikings fans every reason to believe he can be something special.
