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View Full Version : Karlis a Standout As a Barefoot Kicker



Den21vsBal19
01-27-2009, 08:19 AM
Here's a little blast from the past :lol:

One of my earliest memories of the Broncos when they started showing the NFL over here was of this little guy trudging the sidelines without a shoe :confused:

Denver Post ~ Karlis a Standout (http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11559948)


There were understandable reasons why Rich Karlis kept his head down and eyes on the ground when he paced the Broncos' sideline.

When you're a barefoot kicker, it's best to know what you might be stepping on.

Karlis was the Broncos' kicker from 1982-88, a time when he believes the franchise was coming into its own. In his seven seasons, the Broncos went to the playoffs four times and to the Super Bowl twice.

He got help from teammates to accommodate his barefooted walks on the sideline. Tom Glassic, a starting guard, had a nervous stomach before games and usually lost the butterflies in his stomach on the team's sideline.

"Tom would isolate on a spot and then tell me where it was so I'd know where not to walk," Karlis said.

Karlis didn't need any help putting his foot in the right place in one of the most memorable Broncos games ever.

" 'The Drive' game," Karlis said, claiming the distinction from a personal as well as a team standpoint.

On Jan. 11, 1987, the Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns 23-20 in overtime. It was a frigid day in Cleveland Stadium, and Karlis walked out on the frozen turf and kicked a 33-yard field goal 5:48 into overtime. The kick won the AFC championship and sent the Broncos to their second Super Bowl.

"The game was in my backyard, and to come home and have the opportunity to win it was tremendous," Karlis said. "We played a lot of close games in those years, and that provided a lot of opportunity for a kicker to be the hero or the goat."

But those three points always will take a back seat to the 98-yard drive engineered by quarterback John Elway in the closing minutes of regulation to tie the score.

A year later, Karlis' 24-yard field goal seemed to have the Broncos off and running to a possible first Super Bowl victory. The field goal gave the Broncos a 10-0 lead over the Washington Redskins in the first quarter of Super Bowl XXII. But momentum quickly changed and so did Denver's chances in a 42-10 loss.

Karlis' barefoot-kicking style — along with his 6-foot, 180-pound frame and youthful appearance — belied his tenacity.

"When I first joined the Broncos, (veteran linebacker) Tom Jackson thought I was one of the coach's kids," Karlis said.

During a 1984 game against the rival Raiders before 91,020 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Karlis answered a challenge as if he were the size of a snarling defensive lineman.

"I missed a kick late in the game, and one of their players patted me on the helmet," Karlis said. "I really was steaming when I went to the sideline."

Karlis came back to kick the winning field goal in overtime, giving the Broncos a 22-19 victory. He also wanted his chance to return the insult.

He explained that a picture of holder Chris Norman holding him in the air looks as if they are celebrating, but actually Karlis is trying to apply a pat on a Raider's helmet.

Karlis didn't kick a football until his senior year in high school. He walked on as a punter at Cincinnati before switching to the place-kicking duties. He adopted the barefoot style after seeing a barefoot kicker on television.

"I had a good leg, but no idea what I was doing," Karlis said. "I taught myself how to kick."

After a disappointing tryout in 1981 with the Houston Oilers, Karlis paid his way to a Denver tryout camp the next summer. Broncos coach Dan Reeves had what looked like an army to open camp, including some 70 kickers. Karlis was known as tryout player No. 192.

Karlis remembered the agony of looking at the cut list that was posted Monday mornings. His name didn't appear.

After leaving the NFL, Karlis entered sports marketing and management. At one point, he managed the Colorado Foxes, a minor-league soccer team. He now manages corporate sponsorships for Qwest.

"My only regret is that I left the Broncos in a contract dispute," Karlis said. "I played in the days before free agency. You built a special connection with the team and the community. We didn't win a Super Bowl, but I wouldn't trade that time in my life."

Karlis bio
Born: May 23, 1959, in Salem, Ohio

High school: Salem High School

College: University of Cincinnati

Family: Wife Laura, son Andrew, daughters Eleni and Alexandra, stepsons Clint and Spencer

Hobbies: Golf, hiking, teaching kicking

Future plans: Missionary work

PatricktheDookie
01-27-2009, 10:01 AM
always love to read this kind of stuff =)

girler
01-27-2009, 11:55 AM
That was fun! I remember meeting the plane after they beat the Raiders one time to put them at 8-1 (I don't remember the year, maybe 82?) and I was so excited because I TOUCHED Rich Karlis!!! Woohoo!!! :elefant: Back when they had to exit the plane on the tarmac. :laugh:

jrelway
01-27-2009, 06:46 PM
ahh. rich karlis. i remember him well from tecmo bowl.

sneakers
01-28-2009, 12:31 AM
I think the whole bare footed kicker thing went away when the NFL made a rule that a player must wear two socks.

Den21vsBal19
01-28-2009, 07:47 AM
I think the whole bare footed kicker thing went away when the NFL made a rule that a player must wear two socks.
Is that what happened?

I seem to recall a few of them for a while, then they disappeared................wasn't there also a punter that kicked bare foot?

Thinking about it, I also seem to remember kickers wearing the 'striped' portion of the sock, below the knee..........