With no time to prepare, Randy Bullock has perfect kicking performance
PITTSBURGH — Randy Bullock had just finished playing a round of golf with his friends and was waiting for his girlfriend to come over when he got an unexpected call from the Steelers, Friday night.
There was suddenly a flight from Houston to Pittsburgh that he needed to catch.
“I got the call, jumped on a plane and came out there,” Bullock said.
Steelers kicker Chris Boswell suffered an abdomen injury during his typically scheduled post-practice routine on Friday, coach Mike Tomlin said. Tomlin said there wasn’t a lot of time to evaluate the extent of Boswell’s injury. The reality was, however, that he would need a kicker in less than 48 hours.
That’s when Bullock received the call. He worked out for Tomlin on Saturday, and the Steelers announced at 11 a.m. that morning that they had signed him to the active roster.
“This was kind of last minute, but you’ve got to be prepared to get up and go whenever the opportunity comes,” Bullock said.
Bullock went 3 for 3 for the Steelers on Sunday, connecting on kicks of 44, 38 and 34 yards. The Steelers won by a 10-point margin in the 24-14 victory.
“When you talk about special teams, you have to highlight the efforts of (Bullock) to come in here under those circumstances and deliver the quality of play that he gave us tonight,” Tomlin said. “We’re just really appreciative.”
Bullock’s performance came at Heinz Field, a place that hasn’t been friendly to kickers with the winds that come off the Ohio River.
“I knew it has a reputation of that,” Bullock said. “I didn’t really think of it. I was really just going through my routine in pregame and trying to get comfortable more than anything.”
Bullock was a fifth-round draft pick by the Texans out of Texas A&M in 2012 and spent three seasons in Houston. Last year, he spent time on the Jets’ active roster but was cut. This season, he kicked for the Giants in Week 1, but had been out of work ever since.
He said that he maintained a kicking routine at his home in Houston this season while being a free agent, knowing that a call could come at any point. Typically, it would be on a Monday or Tuesday when a team already knew it needed a kicker. That would give Bullock time to prepare from not only a physical standpoint, but a mental one as well.
This wasn’t a typical situation. The Steelers needed a kicker, and they needed one now. Bullock didn’t have time to analyze the situation. All he could do was react.
“I wouldn’t even call it pressure,” he said. “It’s more exciting than anything.”