Brad Maynard leaned over the cue ball, emptied his cluttered mind and prepared to pocket a shot on a pool table that stood in the middle of a packed Fast Freddie's Pizzeria.
Told he would be selected as early as the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, Maynard, along with his family and a small group of friends, rented a banquet room in the Westfield restaurant. Before he struck the ball with his cue stick, Maynard heard the restaurant explode with raucous cheers.
With three picks remaining in the first day of the draft, the former Ball State University punter's life had changed forever.
"You never want to feel like an idiot when you're not drafted, so I had given up," Maynard said. "I was playing pool, getting ready to shoot, and the whole place just erupted. I looked at the TV, and my name was flashing on the screen - 'New York Giants select Brad Maynard.' I had an idea it would happen but until it does you just don't know."
Almost 11 years later, the two-time pro bowl punter has been inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame.
CHOOSING BSU
Growing up in central Indiana, Maynard lived and breathed Indiana University sports. When it came time to make a college decision, however, the Hoosiers didn't offer him a scholarship. Instead, Maynard's decision was narrowed to Ball State and Purdue University, Indiana's archrival.
Despite his natural dislike for the Boilermakers, Maynard decided to give them a legitimate look and took an official visit to check out the campus in West Lafayette. Maynard arrived at Purdue with the best intentions, but the trip never really had a chance after he saw a sign that read: "What have you done to beat IU today?"
"I don't think he ever got past that sign," Maynard's father, Dan Maynard, said. "He just couldn't handle playing at a place where your goal every day was to beat Indiana."
There were other aspects that led Maynard to shy away from Purdue, especially because it had already offered a scholarship to a punter that year. The bottom line, however, was that he couldn't stomach playing for the Hoosiers' archrival.
Maynard sat down with Ball State coach Paul Schudel and assistant coach Billy Lynch, who became head coach during Maynard's junior and senior season, and he had his options laid out for him. Ball State's starting punter was a senior, and its other punter was entering his junior season. Even though the Cardinals couldn't offer Maynard a scholarship, Lynch said the coaching staff placed a high priority on luring Maynard to the program.
"I remember sitting in a room under the home side of the stands with Brad and his dad," Lynch, who is currently the head coach at Indiana, said. "We knew he had a chance to be something special, particularly when you look at his upbringing and pedigree, coming from one of the richest high school football programs in the state. We really tried to explain to Brad the opportunity he had, and he took it."
At Sheridan High School, Maynard was involved on every down, whether his team was on offense, defense or special teams. When he came to Ball State, Lynch recruited Maynard as an athlete rather than a full-time punter. However, it didn't take special teams coordinator Scott Pethtel long to realize Maynard had a special gift for punting the football.
Pethtel, currently the head coach at North Park University in Chicago, said Maynard was unlike any punter he had ever seen. Like Maynard, most punters he saw had the desire to participate with teammates during practice drills. The difference was Maynard actually had the athletic ability to not only compete but to win most drills against teammates who played on either the offensive or defensive sides of the ball.
"He was just an outstanding athlete and he had tremendous competitiveness," Pethtel said. "Not only did he want to win every drill, he could win every drill. We knew we were going to find a place for him to excel at."
THE LEGEND GROWS
Dan Maynard sat in the stands of the Carrier Dome, and while fans saw a young Ball State punter trot out to boot the ball back to their Syracuse University football team, he had a different perspective.
Instead, Dan Maynard saw his son on the field in front of 30,000 screaming fans, preparing to kick his first college punt.
"I can still see that punt," Dan Maynard said. "I had some nervous feelings for Brad. I knew he had practiced exactly what he was about to do thousands of times and he would handle it just fine, but it was still a moment where I kept my fingers crossed. At that time, I knew it was the start of something big."
Maynard used separate drills to hone his two biggest strengths - accuracy and power. For accuracy, he would stand at the hash mark of the 50-yard line and boom punts high into the air. His goal was to land the balls inside a trash barrel that replaced the pylon, right on top of the goal line and sideline.
"I'd say he probably made about half of the balls in the bucket," Pethtel said.
When he had finished working on his precision punting, Maynard would pivot toward the sideline and face the press box at Ball State's stadium. Still standing on the hash mark at the 50, Maynard would focus on the power aspect of his craft.
"He punted the ball out of the stadium ... and into the parking lot," Pethtel said. "It was just really impressive."
Maynard's fame soon grew to the point where he was recognized everywhere he went, both on and off Ball State's campus. He was the most popular Cardinal to cheer on at home and the target of ridicule on the road.
Regardless of the location of the game, one thing remained consistent - everybody wanted to see Maynard punt the ball.
"He was recognized by everybody wherever we went to play," Pethtel said. "The stands would always fill up in warm-ups before games just so fans could get a look at Brad. I've never seen that kind of excitement generated by a punter."
Regardless of the buzz, Maynard never lost his focus. It would have been easy for him to rest on the success he had created, Maynard said, but he was never satisfied with where he was in his career.
Throughout his career, Maynard continued a habit of setting goals at the beginning of each season. Unlike many athletes, Maynard also openly admits he pays close attention to his individual statistics.
Maynard said the process of setting goals and then being aware of how close he is to those goals has helped him stay motivated to improve every aspect of his punting as his career has progressed.
"I was always focused on what's next," Maynard said. "I never know what my goal is until the beginning of the year. I'm the type of person who won't ever relax with where I'm at. That's just the competitor in me."
Despite his desire to excel individually, he's never lost sight of the team concept. Pethtel said he gained respect for Maynard as the ultimate team player early in Maynard's senior season.
Ball State, which had one of the best punting units in the nation throughout Maynard's career, was struggling to cover the bombs that were exploding from Maynard's foot. Pethtel had a meeting with Maynard to try to rectify the problem.
"I vividly remember that meeting," Pethtel said. "The issue really was that he was out-kicking the coverage, which gave the return man a head start on the coverage. I brought him in, set him down, and told him he was kicking the ball too far. Then I asked him the one thing every punter hates to hear - we needed him to take some distance off of his punts and put more hang time on it. Brad looked at me a little cross-eyed, like, 'What?' But in the long run he knew it would be better for the team. So he did it, and we ended up winning the MAC Championship that year."
SUPER ROLE MODEL
Brad Maynard stood on the sideline of a soaked field and watched as the ball from the opening kickoff disappeared into the bright light produced by thousands of camera flashes.
He watched Devin Hester accept the kickoff, run past 11 defenders clad in white and blue and score the opening touchdown of Super Bowl XLI.
"The kickoff is the best part of the Super Bowl," Maynard said. "All you see is a flash of light from all the cameras. It's just flash, flash, flash, flash, flash everywhere. You're just left standing there in awe."
Last year's 29-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts was Maynard's second Super Bowl loss of his career. The first came with the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, a 34-7 defeat in which Maynard set the dubious Super Bowl record for punting 11 times in the game.
With Maynard's competitive nature, missing two opportunities to win world championships wasn't a pleasant experience for the two-time Pro Bowl punter. Still, he said those are two memories about which he will look back and smile.
"It's something you wish every player in the league could experience," Maynard said. "You run out of the tunnel, and you just know everyone in the world is watching. It's a little nerve-wracking, but as a player you quickly settle into the game."
For his family, which attended almost every college game during his Ball State career, both Super Bowl appearances turned into an event involving everyone. Maynard's player allotment allowed him to give 14 free tickets to his closest family members, a small number for anyone to have to choose.
"I'm sure there were some hurt feelings from distant, distant relatives who didn't get invited to the game," Dan Maynard said with a laugh. "But we obviously enjoyed both experiences, even though it was tough to root against the Colts last year."
Maynard has stayed close with his family throughout his long career. He speaks often of his three sisters, as well their husbands, and maintains a close relationship with his parents.
Despite his hectic working schedule, Maynard said he is often home from practice in the early evening and has ample time to focus on his own family. Maynard's wife, Karen Maynard, was the first woman he met at Ball State. The couple have three children - Conner, 7, Cole, 4, and Ava, 2.
As much success as Maynard has experienced in his 11-year NFL career, Dan Maynard said professional football hasn't been his greatest achievement. Instead, Dan Maynard is most proud that his son has kept his family as the first priority in his life, even since that day they all gathered together to watch Maynard's pro career take off.
"The biggest accomplishment is that he's involved in professional sports, but he's keeping it all in perspective," Maynard said. "I think people come away from speaking with Brad with the same thoughts. He's a pro athlete that has his head on straight."
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