Football Kicker Advisor with Cerebral Palsy

Never deterred by his physical limitations, he persuaded a football coach to hire him as an assistant when speaking from his wheelchair, he said, “Coach – I’ve had cerebral palsy all my life but I’m a linebacker at heart.”

FAMILY BACKGROUND

William Douglas (“Doug”) Blevins (DB) was born to parents who had pursued their own education beyond high school: his father was an engineer; his mother was a nurse. 

CHALLENGE – LIFE IN A WHEELCHAIR

DB was born with cerebral palsy.

Editor – Cerebral palsy is a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth. Movement disorders typically appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing and speaking. Complications may include epilepsy, intellectual disability and / or learning disability. Treatment options include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, conductive education, external braces, medications, and orthopedic surgery.

Fortunately for DB, his limitation was essentially physical, not mental. Unable to stand or walk by himself, he used a wheelchair. As soon as DB could master the electric controls, his wheelchair was motorized, which provided the freedom and independence to move about by himself. 

CHILDHOOD

DB thought of himself as ‘differently abled’ – never disabled. 

Each of his parents were very supportive of whatever DB wished to challenge himself to undertake. As a nurse, DB’s mother was professionally aware of many people – children through adults – living with different physical and mental challenges. She encouraged her son to pursue what he wanted. 

DB was fascinated with football from a young age, and increasingly with the nuances of kicking a football. He watched games and instructional videos, read books and, when he was in high school, started to correspond with the former Dallas Cowboys kicking coach Ben Agajanian. DB would analyze video that Agajanian sent him, then use the information to improve the kicking on his high school team, where he was the trainer.

“Since I was handicapped, I knew I’d never play a down,” DB said. “But I was set on this goal, making it to the National Football League” (Editor – meaning making it to the N.F.L. as a coach.)

EDUCATION

After graduating from high school, DB enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Tennessee, where he was a student assistant to the head football coach, Johnny Majors. Later transferring to East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, DB held the same position, working for the head football coach. 

DB graduated from the university with a Bachelor’s degree in criminal science. 

SETTING A GOAL AND PERSEVERING TO ACHIEVE IT

DB taught himself – with the significant help of a former NFL star kicker – the mechanics of place-kicking (from a tee), punting and kick-offs. He analyzed hip rotations, leg swings and toe angles; he talked to kickers about the ideal place to plant a foot before kicking a field goal and how to square the kicker’s body to the goal posts within the end zone.

With his knowledge, DB was able to instruct kickers from his motorized wheelchair. 

While a student assistant coach, the head football coach recalled that “One day, Doug wheeled himself into my office and said, ‘Coach, I’ve lived with cerebral palsy all my life, but I’m a linebacker at heart. I love football and I want to be part of this.’” DB was hired to be part of the paid football team’s coaching staff. 

CHALLENGE – SEEKING TO COACH THE BEST PERFORMERS

DB noted that his career path was an “uphill battle.” It was especially difficult because he was not an ex-player and even more so, because of his physical disability. “I needed to have walking, talking resumes (pro kickers, who appreciated his advice) out there. If I had guys I found who became successful kickers in the N.F.L., then I’d always have a place in this league.”

By the mid-1990s, DB’s reputation as a ‘kicking guru’ spread. Through an administrator at a community college where he had been coaching, DB came to the attention of Dick Steinberg, the general manager of the New York Jets. DB provided Steinberg with scouting reports on the Jets’ kickers and the next season he worked as the team’s kicking consultant, a major shift in DB’s career. 

ONE SATISFIED CLIENT OFTEN LEADS TO NEW CLIENTS

Among his early pro coaching positions, DB had a five-year stint with the World League of American Football (later known as N.F.L. Europe) where he taught soccer players to be N.F.L.-style kickers and selected the kickers for the teams. 

One hopeful professional athlete recommended to DB was Adam Vinateri, an undrafted kicker from South Dakota University, who became a more consistent kicker with DB’s coaching. DB first recommended Vinateri to the Amsterdam Admirals of the World League, where he proved himself to be a powerful and accurate field goal kicker, drafted the next season by the New England Patriots. Vinateri eventually became the N.F.L.’s scoring leader with the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. He kicked two Super Bowl-winning field goals. 

Said Vinateri, “Doug has the perfect kick in his mind. He watches you and figures out what you need to do. I wouldn’t be here (in the N.F.L. Hall of Fame) without him.”

In 1997, while working for the World League, DB was hired by Jimmy Johnson, head coach of the Miami Dolphins, as the team’s kicking coach. He helped Dolphins’ kicker Olindo Mare to win the No. 1 place-kicking job by slowing down his kick. Johnson said it was DB’s single-minded focus that helped the kickers. 

“A lot of kickers get off on their own and get out of rhythm; a lot can happen to them if someone isn’t coaching them on every single kick,” said Johnson. “Doug knew that was his role and charted every one of his Mare’s kicks, and Mare became one of the best Dolphins kickers ever.” Indeed, Mare – as of 2024 – is the Dolphins’ all-time scoring and field goal leader.

While later working with the Minnesota Vikings kicker Aaron Elling, DB helped improve Elling’s distance and hang time on kickoffs. Said Elling, “Doug can see every mechanical thing you’re doing on a kick, all at once.” 

CAREER SATISFACTION

DB has said that his disability did not lessen his passion for coaching players in a specialty that he knew so well. “Professional football is a results-oriented business. As soon as people saw that I could create the desired results and achieve the appropriate level of success, I was welcomed into the arena.”

Editor – Hopefully someday, the N.F.L. will vote him into their Hall of Fame. He has certainly earned that honor.

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This career story is based on an obituary written by Richard Sandomor, published by The New York Times newspaper on March 17, 2024