BOULDER, Colo. -- When he was young, real young, Mason
Crosby went out to the ballfield with his dad to play catch and
kick field goals.
"My dad said I could make them from 20 and 25 yards," he said.
These days, the kicks Crosby makes are much longer and much more
meaningful.
The Colorado kicker hit a 47-yarder last week with time running
out to lift the Buffs to a 31-28 win over Colorado State, capping
off a 3-for-3 day and placing himself right back where he was when
last season ended -- at the top of the list of the nation's best
kickers.
"He's a once-in-a-lifetime player for a coach, at least at that
position," Buffs coach Gary Barnett said.
Yes, it is always hard to judge kickers who play at altitude,
the way Crosby does. Colorado has produced more than a few kickers
and punters who have been among the nation's leaders in yardage and
kickoffs through the end zone. Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos
tied Tom Dempsey's long-held NFL record with a 63-yard field goal
seven years ago.
Still, it would be foolish to underestimate Crosby.
He has made 29 of 35 attempts over his first two years,
including 14 of 20 from 40 yards and longer. Of his 59 kickoffs in
his freshman and sophomore years, 41 went into the end zone for
touchbacks. He is a sight to behold during practice and in warmups
for games, practicing from 60, 65, sometimes 70 yards, a distance
Barnett said he would put Crosby out there for with the game on the
line.
Maybe most importantly, he fits right in with the rest of the
players, something not all kickers can do.
He's "a regular football player in every regard," Barnett
said. "There's great respect for what he can do."
Before Saturday, the highlight of the junior's career was his
60-yarder against Iowa State last season. It was only the 10th from
that distance to be made since college kickers stopped using tees.
He also had a 54-yarder in that game, another of the four he kicked
in a 19-14 win.
His latest success was the first college kick he'd tried with
the game on the line.
He said when he came onto the field, he didn't even know what
the length was.
"Going any distance when you go out, you have to feel
confident," Crosby said. "Inside of 55, 60 yards like I usually
feel pretty good."
The game-winner sailed through the uprights with plenty of room
to spare. That went with kicks of 48 and 32 yards earlier. It
marked the second straight year CU had beaten its rival by the
margin of a field goal.
"He's got a hell of a leg and he's hurt us the last couple
years," CSU quarterback Justin Holland said afterward.
As a senior in high school in Georgetown, Texas, Crosby was
named all-district as a free safety, along with kicker and punter.
Even by then, though, he knew his future was in kicking, not in
playing defensive back.
"I knew I had a pretty strong leg," he said. "After that, it
was just getting some coaching and learning some technique."
Barnett said he coveted Crosby from the first time he saw him,
as a high schooler attending a CU coaching camp.
And Crosby knew Colorado was the kind of place where he wanted
to kick.
"I want to prove that I can take it to the next level," Crosby
said. "Last year I feel I proved some things to some people that I
can kick. I can kick a long ball. This year I want to prove that
I'm accurate and can do more things than go out there and kick a
long field goal."
So far, so good.