It turns out “Legatron” isn’t in the NFL, heck he’s not even at the Colligate level. No, the kicker who has successfully kicked the second longest recorded field goal at any level of sports is nothing more than a high school kid balancing kicks with algebra homework.
With the intense fetish teams have nowadays with young kickers with absolute cannons for legs, it’s shocking that NFL teams are jumping out of their own skin to sign this kid.
But all kidding aside, Austin Rehkow booted a 67-yard game tying field goal as time expired on Friday night, helping Central Valley High (Wash.) out last their rivals from Shadle Park 62-55 in overtime.
First of all, let’s address this: Rehkow blasted a 67-yard bomb and it was only good for the second longest field goal in sports history. Rehkow set a new state record that likely won’t be broken for a little while, but he was a yard short of Dirk Borgognone’s 68-yard field goal in 1985.
But perhpas the most fascinating aspect of this story is that this kick Rehkow made was an important one. It wasn’t some gimmick to end the half or cap off a blowout. The game was on the line and somehow Rehkow found the leg to get it well through the uprights.
“I knew we needed it for the tie,” Rehkow said after. “I felt confident in my leg strength. I went out there, you get that extra adrenaline going and then I let it rip. Luckily it stayed through the uprights. Once I saw the arms go up, it was just an overwhelming feeling of joy.”
He’s still in high school, but some of the more sensational viewers of this record kick are waiting for the day when Austin Rehkow breaks records held by Sebastian Janikowski and Jason Elam. Rehkow has still got to figure out how to solve for x correctly and build his scale model of an atom out of styrofoam but it’s feasible to believe that there might be more than a few college’s interested in a young kicker with a deadly leg.
But for now, Rehkow’s most important job is sorting out all the ladies after Central Valley High’s newest superstar kid.
