You can just hear the old-timers now. “Back in my day you had to train hard and go to try-outs. The bus only came every second day so sometimes we had to walk into practice. We didn’t have a proper ball, just some cow hide wrapped around a balloon…“. Today, all you need is a viral YouTube clip and there’s your ticket to the big leagues as 28-year-old Norwegian NFL novice Havard Rugland found after his 2 million+ hit trick shot clip earned him a tryout with the New York Jets.
While a viral clip is no guarantee of impressing scouts – trying to jump a moving car will grant you that internet fame but then a trip to the ER rather than the NFL – the message within Rugland’s montage was pretty clear. The dude can kick!
After a pretty dismal season where they missed the play-offs, the Jets obviously need someone who can bring something special to the table. I guess guy who can hit a moving target out in the middle of a fjord, kick from one mountain to another, cross a river, and a dead-eye-dick a previously punted ball out of the sky with his second qualifies.
Rugland was invited to iron out his technique with punting coach Michael Husted who had nothing but praise for the Norwegian “He’s definitely the most impressive non-football kicker that I’ve worked
with,” Husted said. “When he hits it, it’s going to go. He hits
it just as high, just as far as a lot of the NFL kickers, if not
further.”
To put Rugland’s punting prowess in perspective; he regularly slots shots over from 60 yards with ease throughout the clip. The NFL field goal record is 63 yards. Rugland has been invited back by the Jets for a second trial in March.
