| Q&A with kicker Dave RaynerBy Dylan Tomlinson GreenBayPackers.com October 7, 2006   This week's question and answer feature is with Green Bay Packers kicker Dave Rayner. Question: You're an avid golfer. Is that something that's required of all kickers? Answer: I do play a lot. I would say I'm avid. Question: Which guys on this team have you played with? Answer: I've played with Aaron Rodgers four or five times. I've played with (Mark) Tauscher. When Tom Arth was here, I played with him a bunch. Question: Is Rodgers the best of the bunch? Answer: Yeah. A-Rodg is good. He definitely hits the ball well. Question: Your predecessor, Ryan Longwell, was the best golfer on the team. Is there some connection between kickers and golf? Answer: I've heard he was an all-everything golfer. I would definitely say I'm not as good as he is. Question: Any correlation between kicking and golfing? Answer: I think there is. You want to keep your head down and follow through. I'm definitely a better kicker than I am a golfer. Question: What's your handicap? Answer: I probably average the mid-to-high 80s. I'm probably a 12-handicap. Question: You played soccer and football in high school. How is one able to play two fall sports at the same time? Answer: Our football coach was awesome. I would go to football practice for about an hour and a half, where I'd do all the special teams stuff, and then I'd leave and go to soccer practice. I did that for the first three years of high school and then my senior year, I quit soccer and just played football. Question: What prompted you to quit soccer? Answer: I had a scholarship offer to kick at Michigan State. I think I committed in August, and I didn't want to get hurt playing soccer. Then I played wide receiver during my senior year. Question: Was that the first time you had done anything other than kick? Answer: Right. I had fun with it. Question: Do you miss soccer? Answer: I do. I watched the World Cup. It's a good sport that was really good to me, and I played it for almost 15 years. I miss it sometimes. Question: How much did playing soccer help you as a kicker? Answer: A ton. My style is soccer style. When I was young, I started kicking that way and I still kick the same way today as I did 10 years ago. Question: Who was your favorite NFL team growing up? Answer: Probably the Lions, because I was in Detroit. I was a big Barry Sanders fan. Question: So, Sanders was your favorite player? Answer: Yeah, him and Steve Young. Question: In your opinion, who is the best kicker in the NFL? Answer: I would say it's a tie between Adam Vinatieri and David Akers. Vinatieri has more clutch kicks, but Akers is great every year. Question: What's the best movie you've seen recently? Answer: I haven't seen a movie in a while. I'm going to see "Fearless," that Jet Li movie, later tonight. Question: Who is your favorite actor? Answer: I'm a big Jim Carrey fan. Question: What's your favorite TV show? Answer: "Grey's Anatomy." Question: What's your favorite singer or band? Answer: Tim McGraw and Rascall Flatts. The original article can be found in it's entirety by clicking here |