Like quarterback Malik Willis, kicker Brayden Narveson played for the Tennessee Titans before signing with the Green Bay Packers.
In Willis’ case, backup QB Sean Clifford and draft pick Michael Pratt were both jettisoned, and Willis was traded for to fill the void. For Narveson, he was claimed off waivers after the Packers cut kicker Anders Carlson and just hours before Greg Joseph was shown the door.
Memories from your first kick?
Yeah, it was awesome. It was great. Obviously the miss is something I’m going to correct. You never like to miss, but at the same time, I hit the ball pretty clean all game and you’ve just got to bounce back. I made the next one, and that’s all that counts. So in my head, you’re only as good as your last kick. Missed one, was as good as that, and then bounced back and made the next one.
What happened on the miss?
Just missed. Hit a clean ball, hit the right upright.
Feeling for first kick?
Yeah, it was awesome. Obviously playing like a 9 o’clock game we waited all day for the game, and so I was really excited when I got out there and didn’t know how many kicks I was going to get, and ended up hitting, I think with the re-kicks we had like eight total kicks in the game, not counting kickoffs. So that was probably like the most kicks I’ve had in a game as far as field goals and kickoffs, so it was a really cool experience that I’m going to learn from and grow from and I’m really excited to get back to work.
You sound like you have a good mental approach.
I’d like to say I’m wired this way, but I did get six long years of college, so I got the full go-around twice so no, I feel like I’m wired that way. I think you’ve got to be wired that way to play this position. And at the end of the day, I’m going to be so much better from that miss than I’m going to be from any of the makes I made in that game. That miss is going to teach me so much more. Do I want to miss again? No, but if I use that miss to learn, then at the end of the day, I’m going to continue to grow year by year by year.
How do you embrace that mindset?
That’s just kind of what I’ve done. You kind of have to, right? If you get down on yourself, that miss leads to maybe missing the next one or the next one and then you go down a rabbit hole of, ‘Oh, I missed,’ and maybe I keep missing. But at the end of the day, if you miss, the best (kickers) miss. The best of all time miss. As far as I can think, there’s no kicker that has ever been perfect in the NFL. So you miss, you move on, you make the next one. That’s my philosophy anyway.
Practice out there Lambeau at all?
I have. The first ever practice I had was in Lambeau when I flew up here and the next day, we had like a mock scrimmage if you will in Lambeau. So that was my intro to Green Bay and it was a pretty cool intro.
How are you feeling since you’ve been here?
You meet some of the guys, you get to know some of the players that you’re playing with, and the guys you’re working with every day and with friends and camaraderie builds trust for me, for them, for everybody. So I just think as time progresses, it’s going to slowly continue to get even better. But it’s been great. I love Green Bay. Green Bay’s awesome. And I hope I’m here for a long time.
How do you not look over your shoulder? Do you worry each miss might be your last?
I don’t even think about that. At the end of the day, my job is to go out there and make kicks. If I make kicks, my leash can be as short as he wants it to be, you know what I mean? I’m not focused on that, I’m really not. I’m just focused on making sure every day that my process is the same and that I can go out and execute on game day. That’s all that’s going through my head. I don’t really play into what a coach says or the media says or whatever says. Because at the end of the day, my job is to make field goals so that’s all I’m focused on.
How do you block out negativity?
If you let the negative enter, then you’ve already lost. I try to be the smiley-est guy in the locker room, I try to be happy-go-lucky all the time, ask everybody else how they’re doing, because to me, that shows I play well, when other people are asking me how I’m doing, people are smiling, having fun. It’s a kids’ game. It really is a kids’ game, and it always will be a kids’ game and so if you’re not having fun with it, then you’re not doing it right.
Operation with Daniel Whelan and Matt Orzech?
It’s been really good. Shout out Matt right here. He invited us over for Thursday Night Football, and we’re doing stuff outside the facility, playing golf together and some of that is more important than on the field sometimes, building that relationship off the field that you can bring into the locker room. You know you’ve got a really good operation when guys want to be around each other outside of the locker room, especially when they’re with each other 24/7 all day. But especially at practice, Matt’s one of the best at what he does, and there’s a reason why he’s still here and Danny is always one of the best at what he does. So the relationships we’ve built, the operation that we’ve built, everything has just been trending upwards in that aspect.
Born with that mentality?
I guess. I don’t know. You definitely do develop it as you go on. There’s a certain mentality that you are born with, right, but you can always – just like anything – you can always get better at what you’re doing. Throughout six years of college – I went to four different schools, so I was in a situation where I had to either compete or I had my back against the wall sometimes. There’s been times where I’ve been pushed mentally, and all that’s done is make me stronger mentally. At the end of the day, I look at it a little bit different now. I know how good I am, I know I belong in the league – I’m here – and one miss is not going to define me. I’m going to bounce back and try to make the next one. That’s my job. That’s what I get paid to do. At the end of the day, that’s my goal when I step on the field is focus on my process so that I can knock it through the uprights.
Narveson doesn’t let missed kicks get him down
