Nomadic Kicker Trying for a Permanent Spot Lands With Redskins -- for Now
By Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Nick Novak is not unlike many other recent college graduates trying to establish themselves in the real world. Okay, calling the National Football League the real world is a bit of a stretch, but maybe not so much of one for a young kicker whose life has consisted of bouncing from team to team with weeks, and sometimes months, of unemployment in between.
Last month, Novak, 25, a former star kicker at the University of Maryland, landed a dream job with the Washington Redskins that came with the slim, slim, slimmest of security. For Novak, one, or at most two, bad games kicking could mean he'd be unemployed again and probably back living with his parents in Indiana, which is where he was until a few days before he got the call to try out for the Redskins.
In fact, on the day the call came, Novak was in the street in front of his girlfriend's sister's house in Gaithersburg, kicking a ball to some guys in the neighborhood. He had come east to work out on his own at Maryland. The next day, he auditioned for the job, signed a three-year contract that is not guaranteed and then had to find somewhere to live that was closer to the Redskins' practice facility in Ashburn.
He found the perfect place there -- the guest room in his cousin's house. "I consider myself very independent, so living with someone else is not my ideal," he said. "Of course I want to buy a house, but right now my focus is just playing well, and I'm not worried about getting a house. So they have been helping me out by letting me live there, and I give them tickets. Pretty much my rent is tickets."
Novak, like other Redskins players, gets two comps to every game and can buy as many as four other tickets. His girlfriend, Blair Lashley, whom he met while both were students at Maryland, usually gets a ticket, and so do one or both of his parents if they are in town for the game.
His situation is unlike those of many of his teammates because he has friends and family in the area, went to college here and spent much of his life growing up in Charlottesville. Both of his parents taught at the University of Virginia.
In the Gaithersburg neighborhood, Novak is a football god in the eyes of some of the kids. "My nephews and niece are all over him when he comes," said Lashley, 21. "Ryan is like, 'Throw me one, Nick.' And Alex is the same way, or he is always saying, 'Pick me up, Nick.' And Gracie is always right there, saying, 'Me, too.' It is great to have him back here."
Novak spent Halloween evening in Gaithersburg, and as soon as he arrived in his Ford Escape, Ryan Balow, 6, who was wearing a Clinton Portis jersey and a Redskins helmet, stuck to him like glue.
"Nick," he asked, "where is your jersey?"
Novak is so new to the team that his Redskins jersey is not available, although some of the parents in the neighborhood have done some research and discovered that they could special order one from the manufacturer, although no one has done that yet.
"I have my Maryland jersey in the back of the car," Novak told the young boy. He got his Maryland practice jersey out of the car, and the boy slipped it over the Redskins jersey. "But it doesn't have your name on it, Nick," Ryan said. He started to run away to show off Novak's jersey to the other boys in the neighborhood but stopped and came back to Novak. "Nick," he said, "tie my shoe."
Novak smiled, bent down and tied the shoe. The boy ran off, the jersey flapping around his knees.
Dusk was approaching, and there seemed to be close to 50 costumed children on the street. A cooler was filled with beer, pizza was delivered and moms and dads gathered in the driveway of Emilio and Stacey Soler -- Lashley's sister -- to eat, watch their kids and wait for the trick-or-treating to begin.
Novak had a difficult decision to make about where to spend Halloween. The children in Gaithersburg wanted him there. His Ashburn cousin, Mary Krieger, and her husband, Billy, wanted him in their neighborhood, too. Novak was torn but decided to go to Gaithersburg, much to the delight of parents and kids alike.
"He is such a great guy," said Jill Balow, Ryan's mom. "Ryan has just idolized him since he met him. This year, he has just begun watching football, but now that he knows Nick, he just loves every Sunday. He was upset last week because there was a bye."
Novak is one of three sons. He spent his early life in San Diego and moved to Charlottesville when he was in seventh grade. His parents now teach at Purdue University. His twin brother, Chris, is in graduate school at Purdue, studying hotel and tourism management, and their older brother, Andrew, is a prosecutor in Dallas.
Novak majored in kinesiology at Maryland and hopes to get a graduate degree and open a physical rehabilitation business after he finishes what he hopes will be a long career in the NFL. Last week, the Redskins held a seminar on life after football, and Novak made sure he was there.
He knows how fragile an NFL career can be. He played five games for the Redskins last season and was released after the team's regular kicker, John Hall, recovered from an injury. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals in December after the team's kicker got hurt and went to training camp with the team this year but was cut because the regular kicker's injury had healed. Last season, he had preseason tryouts with the Bears and Cowboys but didn't make either team.
"There is a very short leash for kickers in the league," he said, a little more than a week after missing two field goals in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts. "That's the way it is. It helps having friends and family around because of the pressure of this job. I mean, last week not having such a good game, I am really excited to get back this weekend and do better. I know I can do better that that. Being a young guy, I know I have to go out and have a good game."
One of the fathers pulled a wagon that held bags of candy that were quickly getting to the overflow stage. Novak walked behind. He reached down and snagged a bag of M&M's. Another father walked next to him and asked about the Redskins quarterbacks.
The street was full of kids. There were so many children in costumes that it looked like a set for a Halloween movie. Two boys from the other side of the neighborhood walked down the front steps of a house with their loot. Both wore Redskins jerseys. "We got a real Redskin right here," one father called out to the boys as they ran past.
They kept running, though, not recognizing Novak. Novak popped an M&M into his mouth and walked slowly alongside the wagon filled with candy.
Another group of kids came from the opposite direction. Two more boys wearing Redskins jerseys and pretending to be NFL players passed by Novak, who was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt, trying to hold on to a Redskins jersey of his own in the real world.
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