Carli Lloyd of the women’s World Cup-winning U.S. team kicked a 55-yard field goal on an empty field with no rush in front of a handful of people. She wore no pads and took a five-step approach. (That's too many.)
This has snowballed into Lloyd saying she could kick in the NFL. The media has pounced, sensing the clicks, ears, eyes and virtue signaling that accompanies anything even remotely smacking of diversity, let alone the manna from heaven this is.
But could Lloyd kick a field goal (of any length) in a packed stadium, wearing full pads, with a bunch of large men barreling right at her?
I don’t know that she couldn’t. But I also don’t know that she could. Neither do you. Neither does she.
That’s because Lloyd has never done it.
Lots of experienced, successful college kickers can’t get NFL jobs. These men have honed and mastered that craft since high school. But let’s jump Lloyd to the front of the line because she made one kick. Make Colin Kaepernick her holder.
Hiring Lloyd as your kicker would take up two roster spots. You’d have to employ somebody else to kick off, because Lloyd couldn’t possibly make a tackle.
It seems very unlikely that someone could start a career as an NFL kicker at 37. Projecting that based on one 55-yard field goal converted under easy conditions is analogous to your 60-year-old uncle making his first hole-in-one, then speculating he could compete on the PGA Tour. (I stole that from a tweet aimed at Jason Whitlock.)
This is an incredibly stupid idea. It's born out of nothing logical.
Lloyd is a brilliant soccer player, on a team that’s proven itself special time and again. Why can’t that be enough?