Welker put his best foot forward in emergency
FOXBOROUGH -- With Dolphins placekicker Olindo Mare out with a right calf injury, return specialist Wes Welker knew there was a possibility he would be called upon to kick in yesterday's game against the Patriots -- even though he had not done so regularly since high school.
Welker attempted a few kicks during the week, and about 10 minutes before kickoff, he was told he would be the Dolphins' kicker after Mare's injury prevented him from playing.
It mattered not that the 23-year-old rookie had attempted just one kick during his four seasons at Texas Tech -- and that was only because the Red Raiders were up big on Baylor and the junior talked the coaching staff into allowing him to attempt an extra point.
"It got tipped and went wide right," said Welker, a recent addition to the Dolphins, about his old college try. "But [entering yesterday's game] Olindo was having a calf problem, and I told them that I could kick, so [during warmups] I kicked a few. I got the nod to do it, and I just went out and did the best I could out there."
Imagine going from that to converting your first professional field goal -- a 29-yarder with 1:58 left in the third quarter -- and a point after.
Of the field goal, Welker said, "It was a great job of blocking, and Matt [Turk] got the hold down, and I was able to get under it and kind of get it up over the line and kind of sneak it in. I was prepared. I knew there was a slight chance that I could [kick]." He then kicked off 59 yards to the Patriots' Kevin Kasper.
After his second-quarter PAT, Welker then kicked off 40 yards to Dan Klecko, and four plays later he returned a punt 21 yards. With 36 seconds left in the quarter, Welker returned a kick 18 yards to become the first player to kick off and return a kick in the same game since Atlanta's Keith Jones did it against San Francisco Nov. 12, 1989.
Not bad for someone who hadn't converted a kick since the last game of his senior year at Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City. He also became the first non-kicker in Dolphins history to account for either a PAT or field goal.
"I thought Wes did a really nice job under the circumstances," said Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt. "He did a great job for a kid who's been here for two weeks trying to get his return position down and is suddenly kicking field goals. He did everything he could do to help us win."
In the first quarter, Welker returned a punt 14 yards before being pushed out of bounds with 10:42 left. With 6:31 to go, he returned a kick 27 yards. His point-after try came with 5:16 left in the second, after Miami cut the Patriots' lead to 10-7 on a 10-yard pass from Jay Fiedler to Chris Chambers. Then came his first kickoff.
"I try to meet the ball and kick it as hard as I can," said Welker. "That's the main thing going through my head. High school is where I mainly did it, and I had a lot of success. I played soccer since I was about 4, so that really helped a lot."
Welker's field goal marked the first time since the final week of the 1996 season that someone other than Mare had converted one for Miami. According to Wannstedt, Mare had kicked well Friday but felt hampered by the calf injury yesterday.
Upon discovering he'd be kicking, Welker sought out advice from Mare during the game.
"The guy is one of the best around, so I was just looking for tips as far as where [to] kick the ball," said Welker. "He told me to saw down the cleat on my shoe because I was hitting the ground, and that helped me get under the ball more."
