YouTube Sensation Earns NFL TryoutTuesday, December 25, 2012
[url]http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201212/youtube-sensation-earns-nfl-tryout[/url]
In October we showed you this video, of a Norwegian kicker named Havard Rugland and his amazing kicking skills.
The compilation exploded across the Internet and currently has nearly one million views. Even some NFL scouts took notice. And, to say the least, they were impressed.
So the scouts asked kicking coach and former NFLer Michael Husted to work with Rugland in San Diego. After some training Rugland, who has never played American football, recently had a tryout with the New York Jets.
"It went well," Rugland told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK. "They tested me on field goals and kickoffs. Obviously you feel a little more pressure here, but I stayed pretty calm."
It takes only one viewing of the video to see that Rugland has some serious potential. In fact, Husted even compared him to Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders.
"Havard has incredible talent as a kicker," Husted told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "He has a cannon for a leg. As he continues to refine his technique, he could be one of the strongest kickers in the NFL."
The 27-year-old Rugland, who says his goal is to get an NFL contract by the 2013 season, wouldn't be the first Norwegian kicker to play professional football. In fact, he'd have extremely lofty standards to live up to. One of the three kickers in the NFL Hall of Fame is Norwegian Jan Stenerud. The former Chiefs, Packers and Vikings kicker played 19 seasons in the NFL and was a four-time Pro Bowler.
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