Calm customer Henery on verge of records

Alex Henery has made his last 14 field goal attempts. (US Presswire)

By Reuben Frank

December 29, 2011

It’s not that he’s comatose, it’s just that nothing affects him. Nothing bothers him. Nothing ever gets to him.

OK, maybe he is comatose.

“My wife will always say, ‘How do you not stress out about anything?’” Alex Henery said. “And I just say, ‘There’s no reason to stress out about anything, it’s not going to make something better or worse.’

“I don’t really stress on myself, whether it’s football or life. It’s just how I approach things. If something big is coming up, my wife will say, ‘How are you not nervous?’ I don’t really know. I just don’t get nervous. Stressing out never helped. It’s just how I approach things I guess. It works out.”

So far, it’s worked out very well.

The Eagles cut ties with one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, six-time Pro Bowl pick David Akers, and replaced him with a rookie fourth-round draft pick. And if that’s not pressure, what is?

“Coming here to fill Dave’s shoes, I never really stressed myself about that,” Henery said. “I just wanted to come here, show what I can do, do my job the best I can, and it’ll all work out how it works out.”

Whatever his approach, it’s working. Since missing two field goals in the Eagles’ loss to the 49ers, Henery has been perfect.

He’s made 14 consecutive field goals, the fifth-longest streak in franchise history and just three shy of Akers’ club record of 17, set in 2001 and matched in 2009. And he’s within range of both the NFL single-season rookie accuracy record and Akers’ single-season Eagles accuracy record.

Overall, Henery is 22 for 25 on field goal attempts this year (88 percent), including a miss from 63 yards against the Falcons.

With one or more field goals without a miss in the Eagles’ finale against the Redskins on Sunday, he’ll break Akers’ franchise record of 88.2 percent accuracy, set in 2002.

Henery is also working on the second-most accurate rookie placekicking season in NFL history. No. 1 is current Cowboys rookie Dan Bailey, who has made 32 of 36 attempts (88.9 percent) this year. So any combination of one Bailey miss and no Henery misses will leave Henery as the most accurate rookie kicker ever.

All of this, by the way, is of zero interest to Henery.

“It doesn’t really mean too much,” he said. “Just like in college, the records I got, I couldn’t even tell you what they were.”

One of them happens to be the NCAA record for most accurate kicker in college football history at 90 percent.

Take away the 63-yard attempt just before halftime in Atlanta and Henery is right in that 90 percent range again ... 92 percent, actually.

Rarified territory for any kicker.

“He’s continued to work at it,” special teams coach Bobby April said. “Certainly, working with the same two guys (long snapper Jon Dorenbos and holder Chas Henry) has helped him. And I think even adjusting to the NFL has helped him.

“Even though it’s easier to kick on the Pro hash than the college hash, he was in a habit of a different approach to the ball for so long kicking it off the wider hashes that even though it was easier ... it took a while for us to get the right approach.

“He’s doing a good job. I think he’s just going to keep getting better and stronger.”

Most importantly, Henery has rebounded from that disappointing day against the 49ers. Since missing wide right from 33 and 39 yards in a game the Eagles lost by one point, he’s made all 14 attempts he’s taken in the Eagles’ last 11 games.

Henery said the 49ers game didn’t shake his confidence – after all, Akers missed two field goals in that game as well. Instead, he used it as a learning experience, studying the two misses and making sure not to make the same mistakes again.

“I guess that’s how I approach everything,” he said. “Whether you do good or bad, just move on from the next one. Don’t let it affect you too much, just move on to the next kick.”

Overall this year, Henery ranks eighth in the NFL among kickers with 20 or more attempts at 88.0 percent.

For the record, Akers (three times) and Gary Anderson (in 1996) are the only Eagles kickers in history to make 85 percent of their kicks in a season.

“I guess it shows the hard work I’ve put into it and myself wanting to be perfect every attempt,” he said. “That’s really the big thing – just being happy with how I hit the ball. That’s more important than the records. I really don’t pay attention to the records. If I focus on each kick, those things will come with it. That’s kind of how I look at it.

“As long as I’m doing my job, those numbers will come how I want them to be. You can’t think like, ‘Oh, if I miss this one my percentage will go down to this or that.’ Just prepare for each kick the best you can.”

Most of Henery’s field goals were mid-range this season, but he bombed a 47-yarder against the Bears in November and easily made a career-long 51-yarder Sunday in the Eagles’ win over the Cowboys. He’s a perfect 5 for 5 this year on attempts in the 40s and 50s.

“I think he’s getting stronger as the season goes on,” head coach Andy Reid said. “It looks like he’s doing a good job. Looks like his kickoffs are maintaining their depth, and even a couple extra yards on to it where he’s booting a few of them out of the end zone, and that’s a good thing.”

Henery said what looks like him getting stronger is actually just him becoming a better kicker.

“I don’t know if I’ve gotten stronger,” he said. “I’m not trying to get stronger during the season, just trying to maintain. I think it’s really more just hitting the ball where I want to hit the ball.

“A lot of kickers will over-kick and then they’ll decline as the year goes on. I just feel like I’m a good rhythm, hitting the ball well, and it’s been going in.”

Ex-Husker kicker Henery happy in Philadelphia

By KEN HAMBLETON

December 23, 2011

Alex Henery pondered the question as though his cell phone reception was breaking up.

"What? Could I be playing indoor soccer in an adult league in Omaha right now? Sure. I guess. But this gig is working out pretty well right now," he said.

Henery, easily one of the all-time Husker greats, capped a record-setting college career and was the fourth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles last April.

Although the much-mocked "Dream Team" Eagles have not performed up to expectations, Henery has lived up to his prospects.

The rookie from Nebraska by way of Omaha Burke is 11th in the NFL in field-goal accuracy (20-of-23) and he's hit all 40 of his extra-point kicks. The 6-foot-1, 177-pound kicker even has two tackles this year.

Comparatively speaking, Henery, the 120th player taken in the draft last spring, is worth every bit of his reported salary of $375,000 this year and $2.7 million over four years.

"I came in and had to re-establish myself as a kicker -- new team, new ball, bigger, faster opponents," Henery said this week from his home near downtown Philadelphia. "Kicking is kicking. I've made the technical adjustments week by week and the game has slowed down again for me.
"When you're a freshman, like when you're a rookie, the game and everything seems so fast you can't think straight," he said.

His two missed field goals in an exhibition game had Eagles fans mumbling about the team getting rid of longtime kicker David Akers.

Then Henery missed a couple more field goals, including a 63-yard attempt just before halftime of the Atlanta game, but he's hit 18 straight -- the seventh-longest streak in the NFL.

Henery came to the Eagles along with rookie punter and kick holder Chaz Henry. The two worked extensively on their timing with veteran long snapper Jon Dorenbos.

"They help me get over the bad kicks and onto the next one," Henery said.

Henery and Henry also trade off punting and kicking for a brief time in practice -- "Just in case," Henery said.

According to Eagles Insider, Philadelphia special-teams coach Bobby April said the group of Henery, Henry and Dorenbos has worked out well.

"I think he's (Alex) just getting very consistent in his daily routine and all of them have worked hard at that," April said.

The Eagles have a long-shot chance to reach the playoffs. They could win the NFL East ... if they beat Dallas on Saturday and the New York Giants lose to the New York Jets, then Philadelphia would have to win on New Year's Day against Washington.

"Things have to fall into place and we have to win our last two, but it's good to know we have a chance," Henery said. "I don't find a lot of guys talking about it in the locker room, but as a kicker, you're kind of out of it anyway. You kick. You make the kick and that's about it."

In the meantime, Henery holds his own when somebody brings up what school produces the best kickers.

"We've got Josh Brown at the Rams, had Kris Brown for all those years with Houston, Adi Kunalic just signed with Carolina and Sam Koch is still punting for the Ravens -- Nebraska is kind of a Kicker U. these days. And I'm sure Brett Maher, the way he's kicking for the Huskers, he'll be kicking in this league some day, too."

Yanda First Ravens Pro Bowl Guard; Seven Make AFC Team

By Joe Platania

December 28, 2011

The Ravens have always prided themselves on being tough guys. In football, the toughest guys are in the trenches.

Yet, no offensive guard wearing a purple uniform had ever been named to the Pro Bowl ... until now.

Starting right guard Marshal Yanda may be nursing bruised ribs and a bruised thigh, but he accomplished what stalwart Edwin Mulitalo surprisingly never did; he is one of seven Ravens players named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad on Tuesday night.

The seven-player haul -- which could increase, depending on players from other teams that choose not to go to Hawaii -- marks the second-largest in Ravens history; eight Baltimore players were named to the league's annual all-star game after the 2003 and 2006 seasons. In 2003, they shared the league lead with Kansas City.

The others were fullback Vonta Leach (during his first season as a Raven), running back Ray Rice and the team's four defensive headliners: defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, linebackers Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis, and free safety Ed Reed.

There were seven Ravens that won the fan balloting at their positions, but tackle Michael Oher (a fourth alternate) did not get enough player and coach support and fell off the roster while Rice, who lost the fan vote at his spot to Houston's Arian Foster, graduated to the team.

Yanda's first selection is especially newsworthy, given the Ravens' Pro Bowl drought at the position and the productivity of players like Yanda in the team's offense.

Yanda, the second of two third-round picks in the 2007 draft (86th overall), has not committed a penalty all year and has helped pace running back Ray Rice to an NFL-high 1,869 scrimmage yards and 1,173 rushing yards, fifth in the league.

"I am ecstatic," Yanda said. "That is really the only thing I can say. This is such a great honor, something that I never really expected. When I made it to the NFL, I was so happy to be on a team and playing in the league, and now, to be a part of a Pro Bowl team is something very special.

"You don't get there alone; you have to be on a good team and playing well as a unit. I am thankful for my teammates and coaches who helped me get to where I am."

One of those was certainly Rice, named to his second Pro Bowl during a three-year span.

If he gets a mere 4 receiving yards in Cincinnati this Sunday, he will become the second player in NFL history to have multiple seasons of 1,000 yards rushing and 700 yards receiving; Marshall Faulk was the first.

"This is a great honor, and I really want to thank my offensive line and coaches for helping me to become the player I am," Rice said. "This is a team award, and I hope that everyone on our team can take pride in the fact that they helped seven of their teammates attain this honor.

"Also, thanks to my peers, coaches and fans that voted me in. But, I will celebrate after the season. We have unfinished business to take care of over the next few weeks.”

Leach can certainly say the same, as he was allowed to leave the Houston Texans as a free agent, signing with Baltimore during the post-lockout-shortened offseason. Along with Yanda and the line, Leach was just as responsible as anyone for Rice's 2011 outburst.

"This means a lot to me, especially with it being my first year on a new team," Leach said. "With changing teams, the lockout and trying to learn a new playbook, I am so proud and happy to be going with my backfield mate [Ray Rice]. This is a great thing and something to celebrate.

"But, that will have to wait until after the season. Right now we are getting ready for Cincinnati and a strong playoff run."

When Leach took the lead at his position at the last minute, he became the seventh Raven who ended the Pro Bowl fan voting period in first place before the coaches and players tallied their ballots earlier this week.

Each voting bloc (fans, coaches, players) counts one-third toward the final total. A record number of votes were cast by fans this year, with more than 100,000,000 casting ballots on NFL.com and through their mobile phones.

The NFL is the only major professional sports league to combine those three elements into its all-star game voting and was the first league to offer online input, in 1995. Major League Baseball has had All-Star Game ballots cast by fans for starting position players in each league since 1969, and occasionally even before then.

The overall leading vote-getter in this year's Pro Bowl tally was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with nearly 1.6 million votes. New England quarterback Tom Brady led the AFC fan vote with 1.4 million votes.

Each roster will have 43 players, two fewer than the normal regular-season game-day total.

For a third straight year, the Pro Bowl is taking place on the idle Sunday between the conference title games and the Super Bowl.

The game will be played at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Jan. 29 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu and will be seen on NBC (WBAL-TV, Channel 11), the same network carrying the Super Bowl the following Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Two years ago, an experiment during which the game took place at the Super Bowl site -- in that case, Miami's Sun Life Stadium -- was a ratings hit, if only for the curiosity factor. But the game has returned to Hawaii, the venue from 1980-2009, the subsequent two years.

Since the Pro Bowl took on its current post-merger AFC-vs.-NFC format in 1971, the AFC holds a slim 21-20 advantage. The NFC has won three of the last four games and four of the last six.

In order to provide an incentive for players to participate, the per-man bonus money has increased dramatically from 1971 levels, which doled out $2,000 per player to the winning team and $1,500 to the losing side.

For the last three years, the winning team has received $45,000 per player, with the defeated squad getting $22,500 per man. There has not yet been any indication whether those figures will be going up again this year.

The honored Ravens, for the most part, already have lengthy Pro Bowl resumes.

Leach was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2008, his first full season with the Houston Texans after three years in Green Bay and a stop in New Orleans; he graduated to starter's status last year.

Ray Rice's lead blocker is also no stranger to all-star play, having taken part in the 2003 Blue-Gray All-Star classic after his senior year at East Carolina, winning offensive MVP honors during that game.

For Lewis, this year's Pro Bowl is his eighth straight and 13th of his career. Reed was named to his sixth straight Pro Bowl team and eighth of his tenure. Suggs made his fifth Pro Bowl team and, strangely enough, first in an odd-numbered year. Ngata's Pro Bowl is his third straight.

"First off, I definitely want to give a tremendous amount of credit to my coaches, especially Clarence Brooks and Ted Monachino," Suggs said. "Without them, I wouldn't be where I am now. I felt like a kid when I got the call; I was excited and honored.

"This wouldn't be possible without my teammates. Without the secondary making the QBs hold the ball, or the linebackers plugging up those holes, I wouldn't have the chance to do what I do, and I am thankful for them. I also want to thank the fans who voted for me.

"But to be clear, I have no intentions of playing in the Pro Bowl. I plan on being in practice with my teammates that week, getting ready for the Super Bowl.”

All told, 78 Ravens have been awarded Pro Bowl berths in team history, an average of almost five per year.

Besides Oher's fourth-alternate status, quarterback Joe Flacco and safety Bernard Pollard were third alternates, special teamer Brendan Ayanbadejo was tabbed as a second alternate and, for the third time, left guard Ben Grubbs is a first alternate.

For purposes of clarification, the above Pro Bowl totals merely indicate how many teams to which each player has been named, not how many in which he has played.

For example, Reed has played in just six of the eight Pro Bowls to which he has been formally invited, missing the last two years because of hip and ankle injuries, as well as a death in the family.

In 2006, tackle Jonathan Ogden, fighting a toe injury that would eventually force him to retire, made the trip to Hawaii, but did not play.

That same year, linebacker Bart Scott filled in for Lewis (hand) and quarterback Steve McNair's place was taken by then-Tennessee Titans starter Vince Young.