Questions and Answers with Jason Elam

[Scott]

http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?i ... oryID=3371

From the Official Denver Bronco's website:

Jason Elam Answers Your Questions

This week’s Q&A is with Broncos PK Jason Elam. In his twelfth NFL season, Elam has produced a resume that is among the most impressive of any Bronco. Elam owns a share of the NFL record for the longest kick ever made on an NFL field, a 63-yard boot at home against Jacksonville on October 10, 1998. He also holds the NFL record for consecutive point after attempts converted (371), a streak that spanned from 1993 through 2002. Elam’s kicking earned him the Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2001, and has been named Special Teams Player of the Week award twice in his career. Coming into the season, Elam had made 14 game-winning or game-saving field goals. Elam’s 45 points this year leads all Broncos players this year.

After downing the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, Elam and the rest of the Broncos are getting ready to take on an AFC West rival in the Oakland Raiders. He did, however, make some time to answer your questions. His responses are below:

Alex Smith, Yuba City, California:
What do you do to get focused before the game or during the game?

Jason Elam:
I start with the pregame warmups. I get out on the field, and I check the field conditions, the weather, and how the wind is blowing. Once I start kicking, I see what the wind is actually doing to the ball, whether it's blowing it right or left. Usually the night before a game, I'll go over situations in my head, trying to visualize my kicks, for about 30 minutes of half an hour. I try to see every possible situation, and visualize making the kick.

Chris Bellegante, Waxahachie, TX:
Do you think you can handle a kick that's farther than 63 yards?

Jason Elam:
It really depends on the situation. It's all about the day and the weather. There are a lot of guys in the NFL that can take it over 63 yards. It's just about getting the right opportunity in the right situation.

Pat U., Yankton, South Dakota:
How has being a father affected your job and life?

Jason Elam:
I have four kids, and it's been a real life change. It changes your perspective. It makes your prioritize your life. Before I got married, football was everything. That's all changed. Now, the most important things to me are my faith, my wife, and my kids. The NFL has definitely gone down on the priority list.

Brent, Madison, WI:
What was your goal in the NFL when you were younger?

Jason Elam:
I didn't really have any goals. I didn't really realize that I was going to have a shot at the NFL before my sophomore year in college. Even then, I thought that I might get a tryout with a team. I never thought that I'd be drafted and spend 12 years with the Broncos.

Dave Brown, Lenexa, KS:
What type of weight lifting exercises do you do to keep yourself in shape?

Jason Elam:
I do a lot of low weight, high repetition exercises-- leg curls, leg extensions, hip exercises. A few years ago I started working with those sport chords. They work all the smaller muscles in your legs that don't get worked out. Other than that, I just try to keep myself in good general conditioning. I work a lot on my core power, which means basically abs.

Sean Henning, Vancouver, WA:
Did you play soccer when you were younger, and if so how has it helped you in your professional career?

Jason Elam:
I did play soccer. It's a great sport, as far as developing hand/eye and foot/eye coordination. The biggest difference is that in football, you're not kicking a moving target. Still, soccer is a great sport, as far as developing the coordination you need to be a good kicker.

Scott Taylor, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA:
What has been the greatest moment of your career?

Jason Elam:
It'd have to be winning the two Super Bowls. It's something you dream about, but it's different actually going through it. The games are different. It's like playing a game within a show. But as far as a single greatest moment, it would have to be when we beat Green Bay. We worked hard for it, we sweated for it, we bled for it. When John Mobley knocked down that pass, and we won, it was amazing.

Jake Grilley, Kalispell, MT:
Do you think your impressive resume will be enough to get you in to the Hall of Fame?

Jason Elam:
It's not something I think about. Just to be in would be an incredible honor, to be right there with the true legends of the game. But realistically, I'm a kicker. It's not something I count on, and it's really flattering that people ask me that.

Kurt Fuller, Santaquin, UT:
What do you do to get yourself prepared to make a kick during the game?

Jason Elam:
I like to find a spot to actually make the kick from as soon as I get out there. Especially if it's later in the year and on a grass field, the footing isn't always that great. I just try to find the best spot, somewhere where the spot will be good and I can make a good plant. I check the uprights to see what the wind is doing, and then I just try to stay as calm as possible. I just tell myself to keep a nice, smooth swing and to trust my swing.

Mishka, Denver, CO:
What is the best thing about playing for the Denver Broncos?

Jason Elam:
It's a first-class organization. A lot of guys want to come here, guys like Champ Bailey and John Lynch. Pat Bowlen and Mike Shanahan just make it that way. It's the little stuff, like the food we get at Dove Valley and the treatment we get on the road. We get out own rooms, and it's not like they're putting us up in a Motel 6. They find the best hotel in the city that we're going to. It really is first-class. In the NFL, everybody pays lips service to winning. Denver is one of the few organizations that actually pay the price of what it takes to win.

Rick, Lakewood, CA:
What do you think your chances of retiring as a Denver Bronco are?

Jason Elam:
Good, real good. Right now, I'm performing well, and as long as I can continue to do that, there's no where I'd rather be. I feel good about my chances of retiring as a Bronco right now, but I'm in my twelfth season. Some kickers have kicked for 20 years in the NFL, so talking about retirement is still a long ways off. But as long as my body can continue to perform physically, I'd prefer to finish here.

Todd Neelley, Lubbock, TX:
Does it affect you at all when a team calls a time out to ice you before a big kick?

Jason Elam:
Actually, I love it. It helps me. It gives me time to find a good spot on the ground for the spot and to plant my foot for the kick. I can see what the wind's really doing, gather myself, and visualize myself making the kick. I like it when they do that.

Nikki Butcher, Cedar Rapids, IA:
What's been the single most challenging thing you've had to go through in your career so far?

Jason Elam:
Having the franchise tag put on me in 2002. It was hard, not knowing my future. That's the nature of the business, though. I had three kids, and I was curious about where I was going to end up. 2002 was definitely a difficult year for me. I lost my father that year, too. Overall, it was not a fun year.

Elmer Gonzalez, Jr, Denver, CO:
With everything you've accomplished in your career so far, what goals do you have before you retire?

Jason Elam:
I don't really have any. I just want to be consistent. That's what every kicker wants. So no, I don't really have any specific goals. I just want to be able to help the team win.

Alastair Law, Bangor, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom:
Clearly confidence is a huge factor to any kicker. How do you stay positive? Is there any particular field goal attempt you're especially nervous about?

Jason Elam:
I'm nervous in all of them. The first attempt of the season is probably the worst, however. You don't want to miss it and start out at 0 percent. But confidence is a huge factor. I find that if I prepare well during the week, it carries over into the games. At the same time, there were a lot of guys that were good last year, and they're different the next year. Why? They have to learn to trust their swing. Jack Nicklaus once said that he felt that 75 percent of his shots were bad shots, but it was still good enough for him to shoot a 69. It's how I feel. I only feel like I hit about 1 in 4 shots perfectly, but I still make more than I miss. I just try to stay confident, and if I do good things happen.

Darrell McRainey, Santa Fe, NM:
I heard that you're an accomplished pilot. What kind of planes do you have, and what would be your dream plane to fly?

Jason Elam:
I love them all, really. I have a 1957 Dehavilland Beaver. It was built for the army for the Korean war, and we rebuilt it. It's big and slow, but it's a lot of fun.

John Dowdell, Geneva, MN:
Apart from the Super Bowls, what game was your most memorable and why?

Jason Elam:
The 1998 AFC Championship game. We played the Jets here in Denver, and the wind that day was blowing 50 to 60 mph. It was a kicker's nightmare, but I had one of the best games of my career. It was John Elway's last game in Denver, his final salute. We were headed back to the Super Bowl. It was really a special moment for me.

Gary Fiore, Staten Island, NY:
How do you concentrate with the opposing team's fans screaming at you?

Jason Elam:
That was only really a problem early on in my career. Now, as best I can, I just block it out. Sometimes I try to hear it my head, if we're going into a place that's going to be particularly bad like Oakland is this week. I just try to hear that massive sound, that piercing noise. You can't ever hear any specific name calling. It's just an incredible sound. I guess knowing how to deal with that is the advantage of being a veteran kicker. You draw from your experience. You know what's going to happen. At the same time, the fans can't affect your kick. Being loud doesn't make the ball go right or left.

Matt Bernstein, Woodbury, NY:
Both you and Ashley Lelie attended college at the University of Hawaii. Do you and Ashley ever talk about how your experiences there?

Jason Elam:
Yeah, we do. Personally, I loved it. Going to school there, you get friends from all around the world-- Guam, China, Japan, Fiji-- you name it. It's great to visit them, because I really love to go places with my wife. It's fun to travel to those places and just to call up a friend and say, "Hey, I know we haven't seen each other in 10 years, but I'm going to be around." Culturally, it was an invaluable experience. I got to learn about the world. It was also good that my dorm room was about two miles from the beach. From my room, you could see the ocean.

Zach Ballard, Pace, FL:
What were you thinking when Mike called for the 63-yard field goal?

Jason Elam:
When I went out there the first time, it was going to be from 58. Mike wanted to let the clock run all the way down to four seconds or whatever it might have been so that if I missed Jacksonville wouldn't have any time left to run a play. If Jacksonville had used their time out, I would have never have been given the opportunity to try the kick. When the clock ticked all the way down, we took the delay of game penalty, and it drove it back five yards. I looked over to Mike, and he had taken his headset off. It was obvious he was done calling plays. He motioned for us to stay out there, and as we got set, Tom Rouen, my holder looked up at me and said, "Hey, you know this is for the record, right?" The crowd knew it. They got really, really loud. It was a really fun experience, and it's something that I'll never forget. After I made the kick, Sharpe brought the ball back to me, and I'll never forget seeing Elway, Byron Chamerblain and the whole team running out after me.

Tim Edlin, Seattle, WA:
Do you get to pick your holder?

Jason Elam:
Well, they always ask my opinion. I will always lobby for the punter. We have so much time in practice that's just free that I can really make a holder out of a punter. I'll give him snap after snap, literally thousands of them, during practice every day. That's what I did with Tom Rouen, and he was one of the best holders I've ever been around. When they released Tom in '02, they just kind of threw the backup quarterback back there. Some coaches will always want to have the back-up quarterback in there, but it's all about building confidence. Most backups don't want to hold, and so I have a hard time being confident in them. With Micah (Knorr), I know what he's going to do. I know what to expect, and I have confidence that he's going to do his job well every time we go out for a kick. That really helps a kicker.

Derek Mild, Brooklyn, NY:
Obviously, you are a student of the kicking technique. Is this something that's been taught to you by coaches down the line, or is it more self-taught?

Jason Elam:
When I was a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior in high school, I used to spend every Saturday and Sunday at home in front of the TV and tape every college, high school, and pro kick I could find. I had about four hours of kicks when it was all said and done. I'd watch them to see what they were doing right or wrong, and I'd try to apply that to myself. Watching that really helped me.

Aaron Chavez, Mora, NM:
How often do you wear your Super Bowl rings?

Jason Elam:
Hardly ever. I usually only wear them for charity functions when I know children will be around. Children love those things. The last time I wore them was at a men's breakfast at church. In fact, I didn't really wear them, I just brought them with me in my pocket to let the kids try on if they wanted to. I don't really know where they are right now. They're probably still in the pocket of that pair of pants.