Kicking to perfection
NFL kickers are already performing at a record clip, converting more than 80 percent of all field goal attempts. But if Doug Brien has his way, that number will climb even higher in the coming years.

Brien, who has kicked for the Jets, 49ers, Bears and Saints, has recently started a business called the Kicking.com Combine Series. Partnering with former NFL kicker Michael Husten, the owner of iPlayers, the aim is to tutor school-age kickers to get ready for college and the pros.

"I know kicking is going to improve even more," said Brien, 35, who played last year for the Bears after being released by the Jets. He was sidelined by a back injury last season and is uncertain whether he'll kick this season. "What the kickers have access to today is like night and day compared to what I had. There's no question this will raise the talent level. Ten or 15 years from now, these kids are going to be unbelievable. They're never going to miss."

Brien, whose last kick for the Jets was a gut-wrenching miss against the Steelers in the 2004 AFC divisional playoffs, is organizing a series of 23 kicking competitions around the country in the coming months. The series, which has division from 9th grade and under to 12th grade and junior college players, as well as long snappers, comes to the New York area May 13 in Teaneck, N.J. All of the kicks will be filmed by iPlayers so that footage can be viewed over the Internet by college football personnel. Kickers can also take advantage of video technology that allows film to be viewed online, frame-by-frame.

"I started out giving some kicking tips on the Internet starting in 1997, and things have evolved since then," said Brien, who isn't sure whether he'll continue to kick in the NFL. "The site has evolved based on the questions and requests I'd get from the kids."