VIDEO: NFL Vet Claims Kickers Are Not Football Players

Sunday night was not kind to NFL kickers. Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop committed a kickoff penalty – his league-leading eight of the year – which set the Steelers up nicely for what would become a game-winning drive. Then, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed the extra point, keeping the Ravens alive for a potential game-winning field goal that Loop missed.

The Steelers won the game 26-24 and clinched a playoff spot.

All in all, not a ringing endorsement for kickers.

Former NFL player Chris Canty addressed the comedy of errors (not so much a comedy for Ravens fans) on his Unsportsmanlike podcast on Monday.

“That was a disgusting football game last night, yuck,” Canty told his Unsportsmanlike co-hosts Evan Cohen and Michelle Smallmon on ESPN Radio. “Now you all understand why I feel the way I feel about kickers, they’re not football players, and they’re barely even people. They were given a gift!”

Canty continued, “Absolutely terrible way to lose a ballgame. Disgusted. The fact that it’s the Ravens’ hated rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and for me, as a former Raven, knowing that it was Aaron Rodgers who ended our season, is just disgusting. I literally want to throw up in my mouth.”

The idea of 310-pound men fighting it out for 59 minutes and 56 seconds, only to have a 170-pound former soccer player who has barely played all day come on the field and kick the ball between two posts, certainly seems off.

American football isn’t the only contact sport where kickers are prominent. Kickers can win and lose games in rugby as well. However, in rugby, the designated kicker is also a regular player on the field; he just happens to have kicking ability.

Chris Canty was a long-time defensive end. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to battle for an entire game and then sit back and watch as some guy who looks like he should be working for the team’s marketing department trots out there with the whole match and/or season on the line.

But it’s not likely to change anytime soon.