The countdown begins and concludes with a whistle slicing the silence. The small weight room on the side of the gym may as well implode as the noise of pumping iron echoes against the walls. Angular, stainless steel equipment designed to turn mere high school students into gladiators lines every mirrored wall. Dumbbells are thrust into the air. Boxes are leapt upon. One sweat-drenched member of the Grady Knights football team screams in guttural, staccato bursts while he squats weights far exceeding his own weight. At this, Special Teams Coach Fred Chamblee just chuckles. “Why’s he shouting?” he asks.
Though a few of these players have been assigned offensive and defensive positions, the majority of them are members of football’s frequently forgotten special teams squadron.
“We keep the game rolling smoothly,” senior snapper and quarterback Isaiah Jenkins said. “I consider it a cheat, you can steal a couple of points.”
This specialized group takes the field on all plays involving a kicker, a time when the average spectator will likely decide to grab a snack or hit the bathroom on a Sunday afternoon. But Chamblee doesn’t care.
“Special teams is the most important facet of football,” Chamblee said. “We’re on at the start of the offensive series, we’re on at the start of … hold on. HERE WE GO!” He interrupts himself and the whistles blasts. “The defensive series” he says, completing his thought.
The special teams roles are far from the most glamorous positions in football. You can’t select a “gunner” for your fantasy team and, excluding the occasional kick returner, you never hear about special teams on Sports Center. The little chatter you do hear about the special teams at Grady is often critical.
All three of the 2012-2013 team’s losses occurred almost solely on special teams miscues. The Riverdale Raiders defeated the Knights 28-14 after the Raiders scored touchdowns on kickoffs at the conclusion of the first half and the beginning of the second. In the 22-19 regional championship loss to Carver, the Knights allowed a blocked punt and a kickoff to be returned to the end zone. Most notably, the Knights were denied a double overtime after a botched snap on an extra point in last year’s playoff game versus Monroe Area.
These woes have carried on into the 2013-2014 season. Last month head coach Ronnie Millen had a chance to win his 100th career game against rival Decatur Bulldogs.
“Before the game, Zac [Carter] and I decided we would split the kicks 50/50,” sophomore backup kicker Christian Petersen said. “Zac would do the kickoffs and I would do the extra points. Obviously, it didn’t work.” Peterson missed an extra point and the Knights lost 7-6.
“You can’t just blame special teams on those games,” Head Football Coach Ronnie Millen said.
But Chamblee accepts the blame. In fact, he believes the losses prove his theory on the importance of special teams and their role in football. And though he takes the criticism where it’s due, he has stated that no extra practice time has or will be allocated.
“We work on it at the beginning of practice, but there isn’t much designated time,” Petersen said. “We work on [special teams] for 10 to 15 minutes, only on kickoffs. We don’t practice extra points.”
Practice time or not, the focus of the Knights has definitely shifted.
“Everybody is focused on special teams,” Jenkins said, “even if you ain’t on special teams.”
It’s an aspect of football that thrives on freak occurrences. Every kicker is expected to make every extra point, and every upback needs to be able to protect the punter. The only time members of special teams serve as tangible forces on the gridiron is when something crazy happens. It’s a collective that thrives on tiny victories and achieving seemingly insignificant but in the end crucial yardage.
At the Knights’ late September game at Riverdale, it seemed the special teams misery would continue after Carter missed an extra point following a bad snap: a now frequent occurrence for the Knights. But when the game went into overtime, the infrequent occurred. Carter sliced the uprights in overtime to end the game.
