Over four seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, kicker Quinn Nordin made 119 of 124 extra points, and 42 of 58 field goals, totaling 245 points. That left him with little hope for the NFL until the Patriots signed him in May, and gave him an opportunity to earn the starting job.
Before that, Nordin was planning for a future without football, going so far as to create a profile on LinkedIn. In that profile, Nordin wrote, “Graduate Student at The University of Michigan pursuing my MSW. I want to better understand people. My experience as a student athlete, has prepared me to take on long hour weeks and any task with dedication and diligence because those are the values Michigan Football program promotes. I am no stranger to hard work and I am willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
It was one of several options Nordin was considering.
“I was on LinkedIn looking at jobs,” he said Monday. “I was thinking about maybe going into the military. The Patriots were my only call, so I’m here. I’m doing the best I can, and that’s it.
“I was literally on LinkedIn typing in, like, ‘What to do after college.’”
It didn’t help that Nordin played in just four games last season, making two of five field goal attempts. He did lead the Big Ten with 19 made field goals in 2017 — perhaps that’s what had Bill Belichick and his staff with their eyes out.
“I was sitting in a recliner all day on my laptop, calling people, looking for a job,” Nordin said, per MLive.com. “I was on a walk with my mom, and my agent called me and told me that [the Patriots] were going to get [me] a contract. And I said I’m not going to believe anything until there’s something at my house. Something came to the house, and I’m extremely grateful. But I couldn’t even believe it, because when you want something to happen and it doesn’t happen and you wait and you wait and you wait, you’re just that much more grateful when the opportunity does come.”
So far, Belichick has been impressed, and as Nordin made field goals of 35. 40. and 50 yards in the preseason opener against Washington, that will only help his case.
“Quinn’s improved,” Belichick said Monday. “He’s still got a long way to go, but he’s improved. It’s a good opportunity for him to kick inside. Of course, it’s ideal conditions. Can’t get it really much better than that. No wind, turf. We’ll keep challenging him in different situations and see how he responds just like everybody else. No rush.”
The call from Foxboro gave Nordin a bit of a quandary, though — life in the NFL, or power-washing his dad’s deck?
“Literally, I think it was two days after, my dad needed the deck power-washed,” Nordin said. “All my buddies had signed with teams, and I was like, you know what, I could rent this power washer and I could power-wash decks in the neighborhood. But I wanted to give [the NFL] a shot. This is every kid’s, person’s dream to get a chance to play for the New England Patriots.”
The deck can wait. The NFL is not forever. Veteran kicker Nick Folk has been absent from the team’s first practices, so now is Nordin’s time to shine.