Credit: Garry Nilsson/www.amerikanskfotboll.com

At the moment the Swedish kicker Ola Kimrin is in Washington to once again try to kick his way into the NFL.
  Hopefully Ola���s lucky number is three right now, he has earlier been kicking in the jerseys of the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys, but has always been cut before the seasons have started.

(N.B. The text is written previous to his opening performance with the Redskins. For the latest news, like for example Ola settling the game with a field goal with only 3 seconds remaining of the game, check out ���News���!)

DD	Ola Kimrin created big headlines with his 65-yard field goal in the preseason games in 2002 playing for the Denver Broncos. Everything from first pages in the newspapers to ���sport event of the week��� on the TV channels.

Tonight (Monday 9th of august) he will be playing his first preseason game with his new team, Washington Redskins, against his old team the Denver Broncos. Can he repeat his 65-yard field goal from 2002? If Washington is going to go with Ola he will be the second Swede in the NFL. Prior to Ola it���s only Bj��rn Nittmo (New York Giants) who has played in the league, and that was 15 years ago.
  John Madden was impressed by Ola when he saw him. This is what he wrote on his web page in the fall of 2002 www.allmadden.com (ESPN):

           Kimrin's a first-year player out of
           NFL Europe. He recently kicked a
           65-yard field goal against Seattle
           and that's pretty darn impressive.
           When I did a Denver game in mid-
           August on ABC Sports, I watched
           him kick in warmups before the
           game and he was kicking 70-yard
           field goals! In all of my time, and
           I'm not saying that I've watched
           every kicker in pre-game warmups
           or concentrated on it, but I've never
           seen guys practice 70-yard field
           goals. I guess it wasn't such a
           surprise that he could make a
           65-yard field goal, because I had
           seen him practicing them from
           70 yards away.

Ola has been playing football off and on since his teens, but when he started off he wasn���t very serious. It wasn���t until he wrecked his left knee in a soccer game that it really became interesting playing as a kicker for the Limhamn���s Griffins. He could still make long kicks. And they were straight too.
  When Ola went to the US in the middle of the 1990s to study Communications and Electronic Media (he has a minor in Film) at the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) he didn���t miss out on the opportunity of showing the coach what he could do.
  ��� It was a walk on, a kind of try out, and it led to a position in the team and a scholarship for three years.
  But it wasn���t until he got in contact with the agent Benjamin Geller that Ola really started to realize that there was enough strength and technique in his legs for him to make a living out of his talent.
  Ola has more or less been earning all his money by playing football since 2001. He has done three seasons in NFL Europe, two of which were with Frankfurt Galaxy and one with Cologne Centurions. In between this he has been training and playing with firstly Denver Broncos, then Dallas Cowboys and now Washington Redskins.
  The problem is that Ola has been cut the week before the real NFL-season has started.
  It���s not the technique, the strength nor his performance that has put a stop to his journey into the NFL. The problem is lack of played games in the NFL. Each time the NFL-teams have chosen to go with kicker who has more routine than a rookie. A clear case of a catch 22.
  Although he has had some good seasons in Europe (Ola was for example named ���Player of the Week��� two times in 2001), he has made the longest field goal in the history of NFL and his kicking has been close to impeccable at practices the teams has, so far, chosen to go with an established kicker.
  ��� The problem is that only real NFL experience counts, he says.
Does it feel bad knowing that you are good enough but still not getting the job?
��� I never counted on it when it comes to the Broncos. Jason Elam is one of the best kickers in the league. In the Cowboys I knew that I was at least as good as Billy (Cundiff), but he had one more year of experience than I...
In 2002, the same year that the Cowboys signed Billy Cundiff, their kicking coach, the renowned Steve Hoffman, wanted to sign you, but you had already signed for Frankfurt. At that point both you and Cundiff were rookies and were just as experienced and it feels like it just as well could have been you who landed that job. How do you feel about that situation?
  ��� Obviously I was disappointed that NFL Europe didn���t let me go to Dallas. I got the chance again the following year but then they chose him because of the year of experience he then had. We were more or less on the same level, but I know that I had a stronger leg.
Now you���re kicking against Hall for a place in the Redskins.
  ��� Hall is good. But he���s definitely not as good as Jason and neither is he better than Billy, even though he is stronger.
You kicked 100% (4 out of 4 field goals and 21 out of 21 extra points) during this year���s season in Europe, do you think that helps?
  ��� No. That was then and now is now. And you���re never better than your last kick.
Hall has quite good statistics, 7 years in the league and over 100 points during 6 of these. What do you think of your chances of taking his place this year?
  ��� There is a chance, but you can never tell how the coaches think. I���ll just take it day by day.
  ��� A thing that maybe will work as an advantage for me is that he is expensive because of his 7-years and his old contract. The kicker is not the player with the highest priority. Taking in account that I���ll ���only��� get a minimum wage, it might work as a plus for me.
  Let���s hope so!