Chasing Vinatieri

After reading the last post, a faithful follower informed us that there are a couple of other NFL players with connections to Brookings.  They happen to be brothers, Kevin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McDermott_(American_football) and Conor McDermott (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conor_McDermott).  Their father Kevin graduated from BHS in 1971, while their mother Deb (Kneip) graduated a year later.  Kevin's family moved here in 1968 when his father Bill became head of the South Dakota Press Association.  Kevin was a sophomore when he sat beside me in typing class our senior year.  His mother passed away in March of 2017  (http://rudesfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1931946).  Conor was in attendance at the funeral, while Kevin the younger was unable to attend.  Conor is one big boy, but yet seems very humble.  It was enjoyable talking to him, his parents, and other relatives.   Kevin the father was a key player on the 1971 BHS basketball team that placed third in the state "A" tournament that year (incidentally, in those four years from 19968-1971, BHS placed first, second, and third in the tournament.  Not a bad run.).  He earned a basketball scholarship at SDSU, but unfortunately blew his knee out after a few seasons.  He and his wife Deb have had much success in Nashville, and have raised two fine young men who are blessed with outstanding athletic ability.  Congratulations to the whole family.

The Sunday edition of the August 26, 2018 Argus-Leader had a special section on the upcoming college football season.  One article highlighted the kicker for SDSU, junior Chase Vinatieri.  He is not the son of Adam Vinatieri, but his nephew.  He grew up in Sioux Falls and player for Roosevelt High School. His coach at Roosevelt was Kim Nelson, nephew of Roger Nelson (http://rudesfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1753454), who graduated from BHS in 1954 and was a member of the 1958 USD national small-college basketball champion team.  Kim just happened to be the coach at Rapid City Central when Adam Vinatieri was on the squad.  In addition to being a kicker in high school, Chase was also a gifted receiver.  That skill came in handy in an exciting game about a year ago, as  he scored his first collegiate six-pointer when he "took a pitch from holder Brady Hale on a fake field goal and raced 31-yards (sic) for the game-winning touchdown."  Chase has picked his uncle Adam's brain about the mental approach to kicking, as Chase has aspirations of following in Adam's footsteps.  "His strong leg and name alone will almost certainly draw interest from NFL teams when his career is over.  But he wants to earn an NFL gig, and eventually have a long career similar to Adam's."  Best of luck to Chase in pursuit of his goals.