Daily Egyptian:What got you started in football?

Scott Everhart:Eighth grade did. I played soccer my whole life, since I was 4 or 5 years old. My junior high school in Tampa, when I was in eighth grade, didn’t have a soccer team. They had a football team. I get bored really easily. I like to be doing something. My dad suggested going out and kicking a little bit, and that’s how it started.

DE:What was it like in Eastern Michigan when kicking for the win with .3 seconds left on the clock?

SE:Surprisingly, it felt like it was just another field goal attempt. Yeah, there’s the aura of what was about to happen, but the goal of the kicker in that situation is to put everything out of his mind. Distance. How far it is. What it’s for. Things like that.

DE:What’s it mean to get the career field goal record?

SE:Not really as much as to know that it’s helping out the team more than a personal stat. It helps to know that those field goals, in the process, were giving points to my team and hopefully helping them out. It’s really more of a tribute to the line that blocks the snapper and the holder than just a personal stat.

DE:Do you think you’ll get it at the Homecoming game?

SE:If the team needs it. I mean, if I’m put into the situation, my only hope is not to break the record, but to help my team out.

DE:Are you mentoring freshman kicker Craig Coffin?

SE:Not really mentoring; we’ve become good friends. We’re more of a peer-to-peer situation. Sometimes, he asks me “What would you do in this situation?” I mean there are times when I ask him what he would do in this situation. So it’s not like I’m his predecessor. It’s more like I’m his buddy. It’s just helpful suggestions to him, and helpful suggestions to me.

DE:Is there any competition there?

SE:Friendly, if any. There’s been no animosity, no bitterness toward each other the whole time he’s been here. He’s a really great guy. I hope for the best. Whatever Coach Kill feels is best for the team, I fully support that decision.

DE:What is a normal practice like for you?

SE:(Laughs) The normal kicker practice. Me and Craig were just joking about that today. People always make fun of us and say, “All we see you do is stand around all practice.” Me and Chris Goble used to hold the chains for the offense last year. We’re out here probably a half hour before the team. We do a lot of our personal training then. A lot of our drill work. A lot of our individual stuff. Then, the beginning of practice is the team kicking situations. Field goal. Punt. Kick-off. After that, we have our own drill work that we go off to the side and do. We have an ab-circuit that we do. Coach tells us to jog a mile during practice to keep us busy and keep us in shape. We have stuff that we do; it’s just most of the time, we’re not doing as much as the other players so they like to use the kicker stereotype and make fun of us. It’s all in good fun. It makes me laugh.

DE:Do they give you a hard time about kicking into that little net on the sideline all game?

SE:No, not really. During the game, no one is joking. Coach Kill puts it best when he says it’s a business atmosphere. It’s a business atmosphere and everyone’s focused, locked in and ready to go for the game. If anything, they’re like, “What can I do to get you ready for this kick?” It’s like that for every position. “What can I do to help you get ready to go in at linebacker?” and, “What can I do to help you get ready to go in at quarterback?” Everyone is looking out for everybody and we’re just being a family to each other.

DE:Now for some less serious questions. What is your favorite place to hang out in Carbondale?

SE:I like the Super Buffet next to Best Buy.

DE:Do you have a sports idol?

SE:It’ll probably sound cheesy and corny or something, but I like John Lynch. One, he’s from my hometown, Tampa Bay. He’s a Buccaneer. Two, he’s one of the hardest hitters in the league. Three, he’s a really great guy off the field. He’s not affected by the money. He doesn’t let the fame and the high level of publicity get to him. He’s just a great, down-to-earth guy. I’ve had the privilege to meet him a couple of times. He’s really good to idolize.

DE:Do you know any good kicker jokes?

SE:I can’t think of any jokes. I know some weird kicker superstitions. The kicker for the Vikings, Gary Anderson, keeps a candy bar in his shoe before every kick. He leaves it on the sideline and takes a bite and takes it back up after every kick. He’s one of the most accurate in the NFL, so something must work.

DE:Have you heard Adam Sandler’s song “The Lonesome Kicker?”

SE:Yes I have. I’m really good with words in songs. People make fun of me about that. I used to know every word in that song. I laugh at the stereotype that most kickers have a really long last name because they are foreign. That’s funny because a couple years ago that was true. He says something about stealing a special shoe for kicking in the snow. I don’t know about that, because I’ve never kicked in the snow, but I’m sure if you needed a special shoe and someone stole it, you’d be out of luck.

DE:Does the towel boy snicker as you walk by?

SE:(Laughs.) I don’t know if we have a towel boy.

DE:Do other players make fun of your little shoulder pads?

SE:Actually, last year they did. I had some shoulder pads that looked like someone in Pop Warner could have worn them. They were the most comfortable things in the world. I loved those shoulder pads. They really didn’t make fun of them. I had some players tell me they wished they had them. Cumbersome shoulder pads can be a burden when you try to move around and be mobile.

DE:Now I have some short answer questions. What is your favorite TV show?

SE:I really don’t watch that much TV, but I try to catch “South Park.”

DE:What’s the last DVD you bought?

DE:Last CD you bought?

SE:It would have to be “Dumb and Dumber” or “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

SE:They’re not really a band and everyone I know would shoot me if I didn’t say this. Eminem. They make fun of me. That’s what they call me, because I know all the words to his songs.

SE:I don’t really read so much now, but I used to read a lot in middle school. I like [Michael] Crichton a lot. I liked “The Andromeda Strain.” “Sphere” was also good.

Reporter Christopher Morrical can be reached at [email protected]