The Cowboys on Monday cut kicker Nick Folk and replaced him with former Redskin kicker Shaun Suisham. The move made some wonder why Dallas replaced Folk with a kicker who had similar problems earlier this season.
Suisham kicked for Dallas in three games in 2005 and 2006. He replaced Jose Cortez in week 8 in 2005 and then later replaced Billy Cundiff for week 16. Suisham also filled in for an injured Mike Vanderjagt to open the 2006 season. In three games, Suisham made 4 of 6 field goal attempts.
Washington picked up Suisham midway through the 2006 season. In parts of four seasons, he made 81 of 101 attempts.
Dallas drafted Folk in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. He became the first true kicker that the Cowboys have ever drafted, and the move appeared to pay off, as Folk made the Pro Bowl in 2007.
Folk underwent off-season hip surgery after a 2008 campaign during which he was great on field goals but weak on kickoffs. Dallas drafted yet another kicker in 2009 by picking up kickoff specialist David Buehler.
Folk began the season by going 11 of 13, including 3 of 3 against Atlanta. Since the Atlanta game, though, he has only hit on 7 of 15, dropping his season total to 18 of 28. In three seasons, he made 64 of 81 attempts for a 79% average.
Suisham? There’s NOBODY else out there we could get?
I still can hardly believe that Nick Folk fell apart the way he did this season. After his first two seasons, I was sure we had ourselves a longtime kicker. We have some kind of kicker curse going on.
Nick had to go he missed some crucial kicks and could have cost us the saints game and I was holding my breath as was every cowboy fan I’m sure? there were a couple of close games that the 3 points would have my the difference between win or loss colume, hummmmm Remember Jason Garrett we need to play aggressive ball and down field we have to go for broke from here on out or we will be out! Tony Dungy is a great coach and I hope he makes more comments because he fires us up better than our marshmellow coach can and he ain’t even our coach! Go Figure? Talk shit Tony Dungy!!
I also have some Austin Crackers that I have still not eaten? this all started on the Kansas City game when Miles Austin came out with the big game!I was hundry and got a pack of crackers as soon as I walked into the living with the crackers in my hand Austin had the big play and I looked at the crackers and they were Austin crackers! who would have thunk it? No one is allowed to touch them crackers and every game I face them towards the TV and it works ha! ha! If u think thats funny I had a Drew Breeze Doll and I bumped his head on the coffee table for a mild concussion! My dog is named Tony Romo! and the other is Tom Brady!I will stoop pretty low for my cowboys to keep on winning!
I hated to see Folk go. He was money for us for two years. But there is nothing worse than when a kicker gets the “yips”; and Folk certainly lost it after his hip surgery. But Shaun Suisham? We were down that road before. The problem I have with the whole thing is that we were destined to pick up a kicker who was available for the same reason that Folk is now available. Its like not being satisfied with your own junk, so you go to a yard sale and but someone else’s junk.
I know Folk was kicking at a 61% success rate and Suisham was in the 80′s this year; but somehow if our season is balancing on a successful FG attempt, I will be worried. But I learned a long time ago that worrying is the plight of a Cowboy fan.
What I’ll remember about Folk is typing “Automatic” during the live chats every time Folk made an attempt. It’s probably just a confidence problem that he will resolve– and then make us pay at some point down the road. But as for this season, the team just could not rely on him any more.