I Played Football for State from '09 - '13. Ask Me Anything.

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Swede39

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Appreciate you starting the thread and for wearing the maroon & white.

For you personally, what was the hardest loss. And reversely, what was the biggest win?
Auburn 2011 and Auburn 2013. Both just sucked the life right out of me because they were both last second plays.

Biggest win was when we beat Florida in Gainesville. I didn't play but I traveled and it was unreal. I got like 100 text messages after that game. It was awesome.
 

Swede39

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1) Did you graduate HS from HA in Columbus? (I graduated in 19888)8))
2) If not for the REC buying off SEC Officials, do you believe MSU would have clipped Bammer during your career?
3) Otters, "yea" or "nay"?

1. Heritage Academy our voices rise in song to you. Born in the minds of men, mightier you grew.
2. Yep.
3. Depends on their opinion of Dales. It's a pretty heated topic among the otter realm.
 

cowbell88

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So, I didn’t get to read this yesterday. After 3 cups of coffee,this morning, I think most of my questions have been answered.

One I haven’t seen is: Does alumni status come with any special perks being a former player vs an alumni that’s not a former player. Tickets, parking, sideline passes, club level seats, etc?

Thanks for representing and doing this thread. HailState!
 

KeyserSoze1999

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Did your folks have a Christmas tree business? Thought I remember riding in a horse drawn wagon and seeing a kid kicking a soccer ball into a net when I was living in Caledonia.
 

LiveOakDawg

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I had a few songs I'd resort to. Some cliche. Some not.

Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (live version)
New Noise - Refused
Assistant to the Regional Manager - The Devil Wears Prada
Machine Head - Bush
Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Anyone who turns up to New Noise and then Assistant to the Regional Manager is an all-star in my book. Loved you already and this is just icing on the cake.
 

patdog

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I've never punted, but I think I already know how this goes. It was the lineman's fault.
 

fishwater99

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I wish. The worst is when you have to give the parking attendants $100 handshakes to convince them that you are actually on the football team so they'll let you park close to the stadium for the spring game.


You should have played under JWS, you would have had several $100 handshakes..
 

HuskyBDawg

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What is a typical practice like for the kicking team?

Given that the game involves a great deal of focus and, potentially, stress for kickers and punters, does MSU employ the expertise of a sports psychologist for the kicking team? How do kickers and punters approach the mental aspect of their jobs?

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions from the Pack.
 

Swede39

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So, I didn’t get to read this yesterday. After 3 cups of coffee,this morning, I think most of my questions have been answered.

One I haven’t seen is: Does alumni status come with any special perks being a former player vs an alumni that’s not a former player. Tickets, parking, sideline passes, club level seats, etc?

Thanks for representing and doing this thread. HailState!

We have the M-Club. This will be the first year I'll be able to really utilize it as we didn't live close to Starkville the past few years. It's a pretty neat deal. Unless the game is sold out, I can usually get a ticket to the game and watch from the M-Club.
 

Swede39

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Did your folks have a Christmas tree business? Thought I remember riding in a horse drawn wagon and seeing a kid kicking a soccer ball into a net when I was living in Caledonia.
I have some cousins that run it but yep we're all related. The Swede's run deep in those parts.
 

Swede39

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Any professors or academic folks at State ever display just a dislike for athletes in general?
There were some that you could tell that were annoyed. If we had to travel for an away game on Saturday, we'd have to bring a piece of paper to our professors whose class we'd be missing on Friday. I got a bunch of eye rolls.

I had this one professor one Fall about the second week into September ask, "I came back to campus this past Saturday to do some work and the campus was packed. Was there something going on?". The guy was dead serious. I said, "Must've been one of them southern revivals or something".
 

Swede39

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Did you ever have a punt blocked? If so please elaborate. Thanks.
Yep. The only one in my college career was in the endzone against Ole Miss in 2013. Bell had been punting the whole game up to that point. All of the sudden Mullen sends me out there. I bobble the snap and it gets blocked. Completely my fault. No one else's. It was just tough coming from off the bench being thrust into that situation when you had no idea.

This was one of the last games of my senior year. I wanted to do everything I could for the team and for State but I had honestly had enough of dealing with Mullen at that point. I run off afterwards and he comes running toward me, screaming, etc. He said something to effect of, "You're not playing the rest of the game or in the bowl game for that matter. You're done. You bobbled the 17'n snap???!? You've got to be 17'n kidding me". Completely devastated that I had let the team down but tired of hearing it from Mullen, I just responded, "No it happened. I was there. I wouldn't kid you about that". Then just walked off. As we're walking back out from halftime, Dak comes up to me and is like, "I got you Swede. We good. Let's go". Sure enough Dak wins it for us. Love that guy.
 

Swede39

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What is a typical practice like for the kicking team?

Given that the game involves a great deal of focus and, potentially, stress for kickers and punters, does MSU employ the expertise of a sports psychologist for the kicking team? How do kickers and punters approach the mental aspect of their jobs?

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions from the Pack.

Typical practice for us was we'd come out and warm up before everyone else got out there. Go through team warm up. Usually punt team was 1st and 2nd period. So we'd knock that out. After that we'd go to our own field. I'd usually work out kinks that I had during the team period. Catch snaps for the snappers. Hold for the kickers. Maybe do some more drills here and there but that was really about it. Sure we had it easy compared to our other teammates but kicking is similar to pitching where you can't really just punt and kick all day long.

When I was there, we didn't really have anybody from a sport psychologist background. As far as approach, it really depends on what kind of coach or grad assistant you're with. If they know their stuff about kicking and punting or played at the college level, usually they'd be able to help you prepare mentally. We also did stuff like go kick in the stadium on Wednesday's. It just helped get your mind right. I had some mental things I'd do to help me prepare on my own as well.
 

mparkerfd20

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Yep. The only one in my college career was in the endzone against Ole Miss in 2013. Bell had been punting the whole game up to that point. All of the sudden Mullen sends me out there. I bobble the snap and it gets blocked. Completely my fault. No one else's. It was just tough coming from off the bench being thrust into that situation when you had no idea.

This was one of the last games of my senior year. I wanted to do everything I could for the team and for State but I had honestly had enough of dealing with Mullen at that point. I run off afterwards and he comes running toward me, screaming, etc. He said something to effect of, "You're not playing the rest of the game or in the bowl game for that matter. You're done. You bobbled the 17'n snap???!? You've got to be 17'n kidding me". Completely devastated that I had let the team down but tired of hearing it from Mullen, I just responded, "No it happened. I was there. I wouldn't kid you about that". Then just walked off. As we're walking back out from halftime, Dak comes up to me and is like, "I got you Swede. We good. Let's go". Sure enough Dak wins it for us. Love that guy.

I remember saying/shouting/cursing worse things than Mullen said to you on that play. LOL. As a fan, I must admit that's it's hard to realize just how invested and devastated you guys are at mistakes as well.
 

Goat at MSU

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Yep. The only one in my college career was in the endzone against Ole Miss in 2013. Bell had been punting the whole game up to that point. All of the sudden Mullen sends me out there. I bobble the snap and it gets blocked. Completely my fault. No one else's. It was just tough coming from off the bench being thrust into that situation when you had no idea.

This was one of the last games of my senior year. I wanted to do everything I could for the team and for State but I had honestly had enough of dealing with Mullen at that point. I run off afterwards and he comes running toward me, screaming, etc. He said something to effect of, "You're not playing the rest of the game or in the bowl game for that matter. You're done. You bobbled the 17'n snap???!? You've got to be 17'n kidding me". Completely devastated that I had let the team down but tired of hearing it from Mullen, I just responded, "No it happened. I was there. I wouldn't kid you about that". Then just walked off. As we're walking back out from halftime, Dak comes up to me and is like, "I got you Swede. We good. Let's go". Sure enough Dak wins it for us. Love that guy.

It did not help that 16 from Ole Miss came it un touch either . If he had gotten block you would have gotten it off.
 

willi13

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Two for you. Not sure if asked before, but asking anyway.
How many players read this board?
How many stupid questions did Gene ask you when you played (please tell us the questions)?
 

DawgInThe256

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Thanks for doing this!

1. How much does difference does a slightly over or under inflated football make to a punter?
2. If so, any stories about teams trying to use this to their advantage?
 

mcdawg22

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Yep. Quite a bit. Luckily there weren't too many negative things said about me on here lol.
Until now. You suck Swede! We need a cover sheet on that TPS report. Didn’t you get the memo?
 

HuskyBDawg

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Nov 26, 2017
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Thanks for your reply to my previous questions. I'm fascinated by people who perform well in high-pressure situations.

Punters operate under a unique set of circumstances, appearing a limited number of times during a game, but their performance has a huge impact on the outcome of the game. They have to adjust between booting the ball as far as possible, getting enough air under the ball so that coverage can get down field, and placing the ball in short field positions, away from the opponent's best return guy, but not quite into the end zone. All of this takes place with 60k+ live fans and tv audiences watching their every move, while lightening-fast bulldozers charge them when their bodies are in a highly awkward, vulnerable position.

Punting from the end zone? Forget about it. The snapper has to adjust, the distances are off for the punter, and he has little time to get a kick away. Even a successful execution will usually result in a shorter kick. The whole situation is largely the responsibility of an offense that didn't move the ball away from the goal line.

I'm curious as to why a fellow would choose to become a punter. What personal qualities make for a good punter? Are they usually guys who are unaffected by pressure situations or do they have an extraordinary ability to put the pressure aside? If you don't mind saying, what were some of your personal methods for dealing with the demands of being a punter? What kinds of coaches, personality-wise, work best for training kickers? Do you think that there is anything that MSU can do better to attract and develop punters / kickers?

You mentioned that your time with DM helped you build a gritty disposition toward adversity that serves you well in life. Do you believe that your experience at the position of punter has helped you build qualities that benefit you today?

Thanks again.
 

rebsgoingdown

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Man, this just embarrasses me...You can't treat people like this.

Yep. The only one in my college career was in the endzone against Ole Miss in 2013. Bell had been punting the whole game up to that point. All of the sudden Mullen sends me out there. I bobble the snap and it gets blocked. Completely my fault. No one else's. It was just tough coming from off the bench being thrust into that situation when you had no idea.

This was one of the last games of my senior year. I wanted to do everything I could for the team and for State but I had honestly had enough of dealing with Mullen at that point. I run off afterwards and he comes running toward me, screaming, etc. He said something to effect of, "You're not playing the rest of the game or in the bowl game for that matter. You're done. You bobbled the 17'n snap???!? You've got to be 17'n kidding me". Completely devastated that I had let the team down but tired of hearing it from Mullen, I just responded, "No it happened. I was there. I wouldn't kid you about that". Then just walked off. As we're walking back out from halftime, Dak comes up to me and is like, "I got you Swede. We good. Let's go". Sure enough Dak wins it for us. Love that guy.

Good riddance of him and his ilk.
 

rebsgoingdown

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One of the best quotes so far about JoeMo is from Fitzgerald. He said with this coaching staff there was a lot less hollering and more coaching.
 

Swede39

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Two for you. Not sure if asked before, but asking anyway.
How many players read this board?
How many stupid questions did Gene ask you when you played (please tell us the questions)?
I'd guess that the majority do not read the boards. Just my guess though.

Haha he hardly interviewed me during my time at State.
 

Swede39

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Thanks for doing this!

1. How much does difference does a slightly over or under inflated football make to a punter?
2. If so, any stories about teams trying to use this to their advantage?

From a physics standpoint, the optimal PSI to punt/kick a football is 13 PSI which is fully inflated. You lose yardage the less the ball is deflated however it enlarges the sweet spot.

None that I know of. It may help a QB throw the ball as they can grip it more but it's different when it comes to punting/kicking a football.
 
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