Sportswriter Gets His Foot In The Door With Broncos

NPR

Published July 26, 2008 at 12:01 AM EDT

For many men, the dream of donning the uniform and taking the field as a pro football player is a tough one to shake. Most eventually come to accept they're not cut out to be a linebacker or quarterback.

But the fantasy of being a field-goal kicker is another matter. After all, how hard can it be to swing your leg and knock a football through a big fat hole in the goalposts?

Stefan Fatsis, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and current commentator for All Things Considered, persuaded the Denver Broncos to let him try. He got to wear No. 9, and he wrote a book about his experience: A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL.

And this week at Georgetown University, Fatsis showed NPR's Scott Simon that kicking a field goal is not an easy feat.

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