Nick Folk reminisces upon his days with the New York Jets
Current New England Patriots kicker and former New York Jets kicker Nick Folk recently sat down for an interview with The 33rd Team, speaking with former Jets special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica and spending plenty of time reminiscing upon their days in New York.
One of the highlights was the credit that Folk gave to former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and former Jets head coach Rex Ryan for helping to get his career back on track.
Folk spent the first three years of his career with the Dallas Cowboys after being drafted in the sixth round out of Arizona in 2007. After a strong first two years of his career, Folk struggled mightily in his third as he missed 10 field goals and posted a field goal percentage of only 64.3%, causing him to be waived prior to the end of December.
In 2010, Folk signed with the Jets. Folk recalled having a great workout and receiving a strong vote of confidence from the duo of Tannenbaum and Ryan.
“The first thing that comes to mind is just y’all giving me the opportunity after I struggled a little bit in Dallas,” Folk tells Kotwica, who was the Jets’ assistant special teams coordinator at the time.
“I had a pretty good workout that February before, and I remember Mike T. and Rex not really wanting me to leave the building until I signed,” Folk said.
Folk continued to mention some of his other great memories in New York, highlighting his game-winning 32-yard field goal against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2010 Divisional Round.
The current Patriot also went into detail on the Jets’ 2013 season, a year he calls a “great time.”
That season, Kotwica was promoted to the Jets’ special teams coordinator position as the replacement for Mike Westhoff, who retired after the 2012 season. Folk converted on 91.7% of his field goals, which was then a career-high.
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Folk recalls Ryan using the team’s low expectations to create motivation ahead of the 2013 campaign, which ended up working as the team surprised the world with an 8-8 season.
“2013 was a lot of fun, and I think at the beginning of the year no one had any expectations for us. I want to say I remember Rex putting up the ESPN rankings and we were like, 32nd in the preseason rankings.
The full interview, courtesy of The 33rd Team, can be seen below.
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