Sometimes you have to work through some things, and the mental side of kicking is definitely there.
I would compare kicking to being a closer in baseball. This whole game gets played, or the cake is made in front of you, so to speak, and you have to turn around and put the icing on the cake.
I think the most important asset to kicking is being mentally headstrong.
I know my body needs to have the proper nutrition so that I can keep kicking at a high level. The same goes with sleep.
The mental aspect of kicking is the difficult part. Physically, we still have to be in shape and perform on the field, but the thing that separates the ones who make it versus the ones who don't is definitely the mental side.
I first learned about kicking under pressure in 1996, my rookie year with the Patriots. I was signed as a free agent by a team that already had Matt Bahr, one of the best kickers around. To win the job, I had to show coach Bill Parcells that I could make kicks when they counted. That process started in training camp.
I have to admit I've dreamed of kicking the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl many times. That's the fun thing about being a kicker, you never know when it's going to come down to your kick deciding the game.
Sen. Rand Paul is a Different Kind of Republican. He will drag the party, kicking and screaming, toward a new kind of conservatism that appeals more to today's youth, who embrace liberty and are skeptical of foreign intervention.
There's something about a Gucci loafer kicking on a fuzz pedal.