In Part One of our series, the Voice introduced former Georgetown athletes Marc Samuel and Tyler Purtill who are vying for NFL kicking jobs. Both were signed as undrafted free-agents?Samuel, the Hoyas’ kicker last year, with the Buffalo Bills and Purtill, a former goalie with the soccer team, with the Carolina Panthers. They faced a huge challenge in making the league, as both teams featured a former Pro Bowl kicker on its roster. This week, we will detail the hectic summers of both players, from mini-camp through the preseason.
After Samuel and Purtill were signed, they reported to their team’s off-season mini-camps, organized practices that are normally mandatory for rookies and free-agents, that occur before the late-July training camp. For both, it was their first taste of NFL action.
“[Mini-camp] was a good opportunity in a situation that’s less intense than training camp or the season,” said Samuel. “You get to know the guys on your team.”
“It was a great learning experience,” said Purtill. “I had never played organized football before. I had a negative impression of football players previously, but these guys work so hard. The guys are incredibly talented and in great shape. It was a great experience to see where you stand.”
Even though the mini-camps were low-key compared to the grueling training camp and regular season experiences, it was important to impress their coaches as much as they could.
“I went into mini-camp thinking that if I didn’t make the team I wanted the coach to look me in the eye and say that it wasn’t a performance reason, it was a personnel reason,” Samuel said.
When mini-camp ended, Samuel’s chances of making the team looked strong. Although it would have been difficult for Samuel to unseat Bills’ free-agent kicker Mike Hollis, he was looking to make the team as a kickoff specialist.
“They’re looking for a kickoff specialist,” he said. “Obviously I want to kick field goals, but I’ll take any spot they offer me. The coaches told me that they were looking to keep three specialists: a kicker, a punter and either a kickoff guy or a long snapper. Right after mini-camp they cut the long snapper and he was snapping pretty well too … Now I think my chances of making the team are in my control and I like that.”
Unfortunately for Purtill, the Panthers decided to take only one kicker into training camp, 11-year veteran John Kasay. Purtill was waived on June 20.
“Things went well at Carolina,” said Purtill after being released. “I proved I was good enough to play in the NFL. The special teams coach and the head coach told me that were anything to happen to John Kasay, I would be called back in to fight for the job.”
The month between the mini-camps and training camp was also vital for both players. Even though Purtill was unsigned, he knew that he had to stay in shape if he wanted to join a team later in the summer.
“I just have to go out and train,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be as simple as signing a two-year contract and making the team; I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. But those guys that have been released and take themselves and their training seriously will make it, the others won’t.”
Samuel returned to Washington to work at a law firm before training camp began, but still worked out throughout the week at various local colleges. His chaotic schedule provided for strange situations.
“On Tuesdays, I change at work and I walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the [Metro] in shorts, a T-shirt, my Bills hat and carrying a bag of footballs,” he said. “You should see the looks I get.”
Neither players’ status changed when training camp began in late July; Samuel was looking forward to getting into preseason games and Purtill was looking for a job.
Purtill’s luck changed when Kasay acquired a minor injury in his groin while in camp. The Panthers were true to their word and re-signed Purtill on Aug. 1 to handle all the kicking duties.
“When John had the little groin/hip flexor pull, we didn’t want to hold up the rest of the kicking units, so we brought in Purtill so we can keep our timing down with somebody kicking,” said Panthers Head Coach Jon Fox in an Aug. 2 press conference.
While Purtill knew that his time with the Panthers was probably limited, he was glad that he was signed.
“The experience and exposure will be good for my career,” he said in an e-mail. “I am aware that I will most likely get released at some point in pre-season, but every day I am here in training camp is one more day I get to prove my worth all over again.”
Kasay was still injured for the Aug. 10 preseason game versus the Washington Redskins, Purtill said he was “slated to play much of the game on Saturday.”
Unfortunately, Purtill injured himself earlier in the week and was unable to kick. He was waived/injured with a strained groin prior to the game so the Panthers could bring in another kicker. Purtill eventually reached an injury settlement with Carolina.
“I came in and tried to get up to speed, but I wound up kicking out my leg,” said Purtill. “In two weeks I kicked what John kicked in five weeks previously. As an undrafted free-agent you don’t have the luxury of taking off when your leg starts to hurt … They said if I continued to kick I would have torn my muscle from my bone.”
Samuel’s preseason experience was equally frustrating. He was set to handle the Bills’ kicking duties in the second half of the Bills’ Aug. 10 and Aug. 16 games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings. In the Bengals game, his only kick was the opening kickoff of the second half. Against the Vikings, he kicked off twice, once to open the second half and a second time after the Bills lone second-half touchdown. Samuel missed the extra-point attempt after the touchdown.
“In the preseason games the kickoffs are going well,” said Samuel. “The only chance I’ve had in the preseason was the PAT and there was a bad snap and hold on it. I was lucky to get it up and I missed it left.”
Another bad sign for Samuel was that Hollis was kicking off well in the preseason, decreasing the Bills’ need for a third specialist.
“I don’t know [if I’m still optimistic about making the team],” said Samuel after the game against the Vikings.
Samuel’s fears were realized and he was released along with eight other Bills on Aug. 20.
“I wasn’t surprised that I got released, but I was hoping that I would kick one more time in the preseason games,” said Samuel after his release. “Once Mike Hollis established that he could kickoff there was no need to keep me.”
Currently, both players are training to return to the league. Purtill said that his rehab is “going well” and that he should be healthy by the end of the month.
“During the season, I’m going to kick three days a week like normal,” said Purtill.
Samuel feels his chances of returning to the league this season are “30 percent,” and that he was going to train with the Hoyas football team in the fall.
“I learned a lot about how things work in the NFL,” said Samuel. “I think where I am right now is that I thought I was good enough when I was first signed, but wasn’t sure how I would stack up. Now, I feel I should be in the NFL.”
“I’m just kinda hoping that things work out for the best,” said Purtill. “It’s always been a dream of mine to play professional sports and even if it wasn’t the sport I thought I was going to play when I was younger.”
While both players may not play in the NFL this season, the Bills and the Panthers respectively have told Samuel and Purtill that they would be re-signed in November and sent to the NFL Europe, a developmental league. If so, they would most likely be in camp next summer, with another chance at making the NFL.
