a 4 yard punt! I've seen it all
- Thread starter atlwebdawg
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TroyMcClure
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Ain't worth a damn, I knew it when we signed him. And the decent kicker we had quit when we did.
I don't fault Carlson for this, he's just a kid that happens to be a ******, ****** kicker. I'm tired of cussin' Crooms, so 17 you with a barbwire ***** Rocky Felker!
I don't fault Carlson for this, he's just a kid that happens to be a ******, ****** kicker. I'm tired of cussin' Crooms, so 17 you with a barbwire ***** Rocky Felker!
yards. He punted it straight up in the air. It almost hit him in the head on the way down. Once it landed, it took a bounce and rolled behind him. It's one of the funniest damn things I'd had ever seen in a hs football game.
He had one that went backwards and another that he had to dodge to keep from getting hit on the head. These two were in the same game.
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" color="#666666" size="-2">September 18, 2001</font>
</p>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="+1">Do you remember Tommy Parks? Well, have you heard the latest?</font>
</p>
THE Associated Press story, which blipped onto my computer screen Monday afternoon, began like this:</p>
"Tommy Parks' dream of punting in the NFL lasted one game ..."</p>
Tommy Parks, Tommy Parks, I thought, where have I heard that name?</p>
And then it hit me: A guy named Tommy Parks used to punt at Mississippi State. Seems as if he also played baseball. But that was years and years ago. No way he's just now an NFL rookie. Is there? I kept reading ...</p>
"... Parks, a former minor league baseball player and itinerant punter, was released Monday by the New York Jets. With regular punter Tom Tupa apparently recovered from hip and groin injuries, the Jets waived the 32-year-old Parks."</p>
So I called State baseball coach Ron Polk, who keeps up with his former players like most fathers keep up with their sons.</p>
Tommy Parks, I asked?</p>
"Sure, I remember Tommy. But I lost track of him a few years ago," Polk said. "I sent him a birthday card that came back saying it was a bad address. I couldn't find him. But I remember him. He punted for the football team and tried to pitch for me. He threw hard, but his control wasn't that good."</p>
State football records show that Tommy Parks punted for State three seasons (1986-88), averaging right at 40 yards per kick. He made the All-SEC freshman team in 1986 but never punted as a senior in 1989.</p>
State baseball records show Parks pitched just 3 1/3 innings over three seasons, giving up eight runs, five earned, for a 13.64 ERA. He never earned a baseball letter.</p>
Said Polk, "Tommy was a different sort of guy."</p>
In what way?</p>
"Let's just say he was interesting," Polk said.</p>
Boy, is he ever.</p>
So how old is he?</p>
". . . In his only NFL action, Parks averaged 47.6 yards on five punts against Indianapolis in the season opener. Parks became noteworthy during training camp when it was discovered he lied about his age to get a tryout. . . . He was listed as being born on Oct. 14, 1971. His actual birthdate is Oct. 14, 1968. Parks said he was told by people in baseball not to give his accurate age. . . ."</p>
Parks apparently fudged on some other facts. He told New York reporters that he had played baseball in the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres organizations for six years, reaching as high as <nobr><font color="#006600">Class</font></nobr> AAA.</p>
But those organizations have no record of a Tommy Parks at any level. Polk says he remembers that Parks pitched some for independent league teams.</p>
Parks told reporters that he was an orphan raised in Tupelo, the <nobr><font color="#006600">home</font></nobr> of his idol, Elvis Presley. But Mississippi State records show that he was born in Okolona, raised in Houston and that his daddy's name was Thomas Earl Parks.</p>
He told reporters that he was adopted last July by Maryann Diaz, a marketing specialist in Reno, Nev. "I'm the son she never had," Parks said.</p>
I called the home of a Maryann Diaz of Reno. She wasn't home, a male voice said. "I've never heard of anyone named Tommy Parks," the guy replied when asked.</p>
He'll keep trying</p>
The Jets originally listed Parks as 27 years old, which would have meant he punted for State as a 13-year-old freshman. And we thought the Little League guys were telling whoppers.</p>
The guess here is that Parks will try to catch on with another NFL team. If he hasn't given up 12 years after finishing at State, he probably won't give up now.</p>
But consider this:</p>
If Parks never kicks again, he will retire from the NFL with a 47.7 yards per punt average. That's five yards per punt better than Ray Guy, only the best punter in football history.</p>
And Parks won't need to fib at all about that. </p>
</p>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="+1">Do you remember Tommy Parks? Well, have you heard the latest?</font>
</p>
THE Associated Press story, which blipped onto my computer screen Monday afternoon, began like this:</p>
"Tommy Parks' dream of punting in the NFL lasted one game ..."</p>
Tommy Parks, Tommy Parks, I thought, where have I heard that name?</p>
And then it hit me: A guy named Tommy Parks used to punt at Mississippi State. Seems as if he also played baseball. But that was years and years ago. No way he's just now an NFL rookie. Is there? I kept reading ...</p>
"... Parks, a former minor league baseball player and itinerant punter, was released Monday by the New York Jets. With regular punter Tom Tupa apparently recovered from hip and groin injuries, the Jets waived the 32-year-old Parks."</p>
So I called State baseball coach Ron Polk, who keeps up with his former players like most fathers keep up with their sons.</p>
Tommy Parks, I asked?</p>
"Sure, I remember Tommy. But I lost track of him a few years ago," Polk said. "I sent him a birthday card that came back saying it was a bad address. I couldn't find him. But I remember him. He punted for the football team and tried to pitch for me. He threw hard, but his control wasn't that good."</p>
State football records show that Tommy Parks punted for State three seasons (1986-88), averaging right at 40 yards per kick. He made the All-SEC freshman team in 1986 but never punted as a senior in 1989.</p>
State baseball records show Parks pitched just 3 1/3 innings over three seasons, giving up eight runs, five earned, for a 13.64 ERA. He never earned a baseball letter.</p>
Said Polk, "Tommy was a different sort of guy."</p>
In what way?</p>
"Let's just say he was interesting," Polk said.</p>
Boy, is he ever.</p>
So how old is he?</p>
". . . In his only NFL action, Parks averaged 47.6 yards on five punts against Indianapolis in the season opener. Parks became noteworthy during training camp when it was discovered he lied about his age to get a tryout. . . . He was listed as being born on Oct. 14, 1971. His actual birthdate is Oct. 14, 1968. Parks said he was told by people in baseball not to give his accurate age. . . ."</p>
Parks apparently fudged on some other facts. He told New York reporters that he had played baseball in the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres organizations for six years, reaching as high as <nobr><font color="#006600">Class</font></nobr> AAA.</p>
But those organizations have no record of a Tommy Parks at any level. Polk says he remembers that Parks pitched some for independent league teams.</p>
Parks told reporters that he was an orphan raised in Tupelo, the <nobr><font color="#006600">home</font></nobr> of his idol, Elvis Presley. But Mississippi State records show that he was born in Okolona, raised in Houston and that his daddy's name was Thomas Earl Parks.</p>
He told reporters that he was adopted last July by Maryann Diaz, a marketing specialist in Reno, Nev. "I'm the son she never had," Parks said.</p>
I called the home of a Maryann Diaz of Reno. She wasn't home, a male voice said. "I've never heard of anyone named Tommy Parks," the guy replied when asked.</p>
He'll keep trying</p>
The Jets originally listed Parks as 27 years old, which would have meant he punted for State as a 13-year-old freshman. And we thought the Little League guys were telling whoppers.</p>
The guess here is that Parks will try to catch on with another NFL team. If he hasn't given up 12 years after finishing at State, he probably won't give up now.</p>
But consider this:</p>
If Parks never kicks again, he will retire from the NFL with a 47.7 yards per punt average. That's five yards per punt better than Ray Guy, only the best punter in football history.</p>
And Parks won't need to fib at all about that. </p>
was not on the roster they passed out yesterday....what is the deal? Our kicking isn't as bad as our damn punting. But, it is still, um, not so swell.
and we used to abuse him. I hit a three run jack off him my jr. year. He did throw really hard but Polk was right about the control issue. I didn't realize he played for Polk. I can't belive he even made the team. Hell, back then the teams were actually very good. Seems like I remember this guy being charged with sexual assualt or something to the sort a few years ago. Not sure what came of it though. I can believe he played on the football team. We sucked as bad then as we do now. Maybe worse if you can believe that. If you want to know how bad it was, one of the starting MSU quarterbacks during these years was a guy from Okolona named Mike Davis. In all honesty, he was probably the worst QB in the last 30 years and that's saying something.
That guy was a nut. I was around him some back at State.
He was hearing a different tune than everybody else.
Watching him out and about was like watching them go 5 wide coming out of turn 4 at Talladega. You didn't know what was gonna happen, but it was going to be interesting.
He was hearing a different tune than everybody else.
Watching him out and about was like watching them go 5 wide coming out of turn 4 at Talladega. You didn't know what was gonna happen, but it was going to be interesting.
when Ron Polk says that you are "kind of different"? I actually remember that he was on the 1990 MSU baseball team.
