During the 1987 season, Ball State University football coach Paul Schudel did not like kicking field goals.
The Cardinals tried to kick a few field goals early in the season, but they could not find anyone consistent enough to make them.
"We tried a couple early, and we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bass fiddle," Schudel said.
After finishing the season not attempting any field goals from beyond the 10-yard line, the coach decided he needed to find a new kicker. He found Kenny Stucker - a high school kicker from Miami.
Stucker was recruited by teams across the nation - including the University of Alabama, West Virginia University, Kent State University and Eastern Michigan University. Even though most teams did not highly value kickers at the time, Ball State offered him a full-ride scholarship, and he accepted.
The decision ended up being a good one for Stucker, who finished his college career as one of Ball State's best kickers ever and is now one of four former athletes being inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday.
KICKING FOR THE CARDINALS
Growing up in Miami, Stucker could have spent his time soaking up the sun on the beaches. However, he knew he had to work hard and try to get better every day if he wanted to be successful.
"The perception is kickers don't do much, but I worked my tail off every summer working," he said. "Instead of going to beaches in Miami, I was working. And all of those years of hard work, it paid off."
Stucker's hard work paid off as he was one of nine players from his school to get a Division I football scholarship his senior year. He left the warmth of southern Florida and headed to Ball State to attend college and play football.
"Initially it was tough, just the culture change," Stucker said. "But once I got through the first year or so, half year or whatever, it was easier. You got to get used to everything. At first it was a little tough, a different lifestyle, slower paced."
Not only did Stucker quickly adapt to the new pace of the Midwest, he also quickly found a spot in the Cardinals' starting lineup. As a freshman, he took a team that was hesitant to kick field goals the year before and shifted its strategy as he made 18 field goals, the second most in program history at the time.
After finishing the 1987 season with a 4-7 record, the Cardinals improved to 8-3 during Stucker's freshman season. Stucker's kicking ability helped in Ball State's improvement, and he was honored for his contributions by the Mid-American Conference as a member of the All-MAC second team.
The success continued the following season as Stucker made 19 field goals and was once again honored by the MAC as part of its second team.
That season, Ball State won its first conference title in more than 10 years and advanced to the program's first NCAA Division 1A bowl game, the California Raisin Bowl.
"As a college football player, that's the biggest thing you want to do - go to a bowl game and win a ring," Stucker said. "That year we won the MAC Championship. They didn't have a championship game like they do now. But winning the MAC and then going to the bowl game, there's nothing that can beat that. Winning a ring is the ultimate prize in college football."
The Cardinals' success on the field not only gained them accolades from the MAC and the NCAA, they also gained the support of the Ball State community.
"Ball State, being such a basketball school in my time, we kind of took the students and kind of got them on board with us when we started winning and playing good football," Stucker said. "So, they really supported us and came to the games. When you give them a championship, then they have a reason to come watch."
Stucker went on to earn first team All-MAC honors during both his junior and senior seasons.
He finished his Ball State career second in career points with 279, second in extra points made with 93 and second in field goals made with 62. He still has three of the top six seasons for most field goals made in Ball State history.
His kicking even earned him the nickname "Superfoot" from a Ball State announcer, a name that has followed him since.
"Now they won't let it go," Stucker said. "I kind of wish they would. I got a lot of crap at work for being called 'Superfoot.'"
Schudel said Stucker was not a typical kicker as he had the mentality of any other player and was hard to rattle. The coach recalled a game against Eastern Michigan University in which he sent Stucker onto the field with 18 seconds left and no timeouts remaining. Although Ball State was losing and he had less time than kickers usually want to prepare for a field goal, Stucker made the game winner.
"He was just a real pressure kicker," Schudel said. "He worked hard. He was dedicated to what he did, and he did it very well."
MAKING IT PROFESSIONALLY
After his Ball State career, Stucker played in the Blue-Gray game, a postseason all-star game for college football players. He also participated in the NFL Combine and entered the 1992 NFL Draft as the second-rated kicker behind Jason Hanson.
Stucker was not drafted, but he got a chance to try out for the Minnesota Vikings at their training camp. However, he did not make the team. He had numerous tryouts throughout the following years with teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, but he was never given an opportunity to play in the NFL.
"Why I never made it, I don't know," Stucker said. "That's a question that I'll never know."
In 1994, Stucker finally got his chance to play professional football - with the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League. Stucker was the first player to ever sign with the Mustangs.
"It was an honor to be the first person. Kickers aren't the first person a team's looking for, but he felt that strongly to sign me on the spot there," Stucker said about coach Lou Saban signing him after his tryout with the team.
Like at Ball State, success followed Stucker to Milwaukee. The kicker won the 1998 AFL Kicker of the Year award after making 18 of his 36 field goal attempts and 77 of 84 extra point attempts that season.
Playing for the Mustangs, Stucker also learned how to become more accurate as a kicker - a needed skill as the AFL field goal posts are less than half as wide as NFL field goal posts and five feet higher off the ground.
"You kind of have to dissect what you're doing because the littlest things can cause you to miss," Stucker said. "You could hit it an inch outside and hit the bar. Outdoors it's still almost down the middle, but you just really learn on your technique on what you need to do to kick it, and you have to be dead straight.
"I went to NFL tryouts throughout my Arena League career, and I didn't miss a field goal. I'd hit it down the middle every time and they're like 'holy crap.' You just get so good at what you do because you have to be to be successful in the Arena League."
Stucker's skills gained him acclaim as one of the best kickers in the history of the AFL. When he retired following the 1999 season, he was second in AFL history with 119 field goals made and 742 points.
For his contributions to the Mustangs throughout his career, the team retired his No. 8 jersey - the only jersey to ever be retired by the franchise.
"It was kind of mixed emotions when they were retiring it because I felt like [my career] was over when it wasn't," Stucker said. "In my heart I wasn't done. So it was one of those things. It was awesome for someone to retire a number and like I said, being a kicker, I was always told kickers never get scholarships. You know how a kicker gets treated. It's a honor."
FINISHING HIS FOOTBALL CAREER
In the two years after he retired, the Mustangs - who quit playing after the 2001 season - tried to lure Stucker out of retirement. However, the kicker wanted to find a more stable job for his young family. Although he was the highest paid kicker in the league, he made less than $25,000 per season and had to work part-time jobs in the offseason.
Stucker was able to fulfill his desires of finding a more stable career and spending more time with his family by working jobs in sales after his retirement.
Almost immediately after Stucker retired, the AFL increased its minimum salary requirement to more than $50,000 per season. The increased amount of pay and his feeling that he still wanted to play football made Stucker have doubts about his decision to retire.
Stucker returned to the AFL as a member of the Chicago Rush for the 2002 playoffs. The following season he started the season with the New York Dragons and also spent time with Chicago and the Tampa Bay Storm.
After joining Tampa Bay late during the 2003 season, Stucker won ArenaBowl XVII as a member of the Storm.
"When I won the championship, I just kind of just said to myself and my wife, 'I think I'm done,'" Stucker said. "I kind of realized there's no more fire in my belly to play. So I wanted to get a career and start watching my son develop as an athlete."
Stucker said the AFL Championship was great, but it did not compare to winning the 1989 MAC Championship with Ball State.
"To me the MAC Championship was the ultimate because you're around the players all the time," he said. "You're in school with them. You're in the weight room with them. You have just a camaraderie that there's no other. Pro sports was a little bit different."
Following his second retirement from football playing career - one which he said is permanent - Stucker went back into sales. He then became a police officer in 2005 with the Waukesha Police Department in Waukesha, Wis.
"I really enjoy what I'm doing now, being a police officer," Stucker said. "It's stability for the family. It's a pension for me."
Stucker is also a special teams coach for the Milwaukee Iron, which is an Arena Football League 2 team that will begin play next season. The position is a part-time job, which allows Stucker time to spend with his wife, 10-year-old son, 5-year-old daughter and 4-year-old daughter at their home in Waukesha.
"I'm looking to watch my son and daughters grow up and whatever they do in life, I just want to support them," Stucker said. "That's all I care about at this point."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
