After the Bills took the field for a training camp scrimmage last week, the big news out of it came via the team’s premiere special teams battle. Rookie Tyler Bass ousted veteran Stephen Hauschka to take the Bills’ kicking crown ahead of the 2020 regular season.
But that’s not how the 2020 sixth-round pick is thinking of it, and that’s probably a good thing we think.
While yes, Bass did beat out a proven NFL placekicker in Hauschka for the job, he said on Sunday speaking to reporters via video conference from Bills training camp that the work has only just begun for him. Really, it hasn’t even started yet in his eyes.
“I had to earn everything I had there, nothing has been handed to me in life, and I had to earn that. I came to camp with the same mentality, I knew I wasn’t the number one guy coming in, and I had to earn that right and the respect. Now that I have the job, I still feel like I haven’t proven anything, I’ve haven’t even played a game yet. I’m still going to do everything I can to be the best I can be to help this team and take it one day at a time,” Bass said.
In helping him win the job, Bass pointed to his past as a motivator. Out of high school, the Georgia Southern product had to walk-on in college. He’s really been an underdog and had to prove himself for awhile now. That’s even how Bills special teams coordinator Heath Farwell described the latest gig Bass has won, too.
“He earned the job; he worked his butt off and we take everything into account when picking this position and he won the job. Nobody handed it to him, and we made it as hard as we possibly could. He excelled at everything we did and everything we evaluate,” Farwell said.
But the Bills sound like they’re being honest with themselves in picking Bass, though. As a rookie, they know it won’t be all gravy for the new guy and he’s going to get a little slack from the team it sounds like.
“I have a really good understanding with him and what he’s about and what’s important to him. I just trust him out there, he does everything right and we’re going to have some ups and downs throughout the season, that’s a part of football,” Farwell said.
Even if Bass remains in Buffalo for numerous years as their kicker, undoubtedly the most interesting part of his tenure will be the start. Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the first of his professional kicks will be in front of… no fans, or very few. Perhaps that could be a way of easing him into his NFL career?
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