 What's up everybody and welcome to another episode of Falcons in Focus. I'm Scott Baer. That's Tori McElhaney The gentleman in the quote-unquote hot seat, which is what I just named it right now. It's not really young way. Cool. Yeah It's sitting here Falcons kicker and someone who I think has the best hair on the team. Mmm. It's It's very rarely out of place, which I find fascinating So my intro question to you is this have you ever won best hair in high school? And if not, why were you robbed? I? Didn't have this haircut in high school So it's only late to the cool hair game. Is that what it is? Yeah, what type of haircut did you have in high school? Yeah, it was a lot shorter. Oh really? See every I feel like every guy went to high school with when because I feel like we probably were in high school around the same time and like mid 2010s ish Everybody had the bowl cut. Yeah, like that was like in the middle school freshman year. They had that, you know Yeah Mine was shorter I'm pretty sure it was Arthur Smith who said when y'all did the Atlanta eats video He called you not the face of the franchise the hair of the franchise Does that sound like something he would do because I think he did do I think he did tell say that on Does he call you that often or was it just in that moment I I wear my hat a lot around him. So that was the only time It's just crazy because the man kicks the game-winning field goal against Carolina Yeah gets tossed off on a bunch of offensive linemen shoulders throws the helmet off and in every picture It's like straight out of the it was hair salon. I promise this will not be the entire Have you seen someone like I don't even I think it was even our social team did a side-by-side of that photo I don't know if you've seen it. It was after it everybody you're up on their shoulders and you're throwing the helmet and It's a like renaissance painting Okay, so as someone who's never done it when you're In that moment and the game is on the line and there's 70,000 people screaming for you to succeed or fail Do you still get nervous? Did you ever get nervous like do you has that kind of worked out of you? Like what like take us inside your mind when those moments are happening. I would say I was definitely like More nervous beginning of my career for sure, but I Still get nervous. I think it's good nerve So like I feel like if you don't get nervous like, you know, you don't really care You know, I feel like if you carry it's normal to get the butterflies on game day and You know visualize those moments as a kicker But I don't really try to get caught up in all that external stuff, you know, like the fans and all that that's Kind of fans. Obviously if I'm watching a football game as a fan I'm going to ride those, you know, emotional rollercoaster, right? But as a person who's like, all right, like I'm Kind of I catch myself sometimes like, okay, they scored a touchdown. It's like, okay Well, that was like, oh, no, I got to kick a ball. So like I need to lock in here You know, so I tried to detach myself emotionally from the game so I can stay locked in on my on my process So at the net I'm just kind of in my own world. So, you know, we have those Press box or the sweets right now. Yeah, I might I don't know it seemed like Like I'm you know trying to be mean, but I just try to be my own world, you know in my zone So, yeah, you're just making sure like that you everything is zeroed in on the moment Now do you I've heard this before from people that like they are So locked in that they can't even hear is that kind of like how you are or can you still when you're out in the middle of the field? And it's loud and people are screaming like Is it a situation where you can still hear that because I know some people like disassociate so much that it's not even like that Yeah, it kind of becomes like white noise for me. I Try to just think about the stuff that I think about out here kicking and practicing, you know Thinking about the snap my timing the hold and what I'm gonna look at and my steps and my angles and stuff like that So all the other stuff just kind of it comes white noise. Do you know, right when it leaves your foot that it's good? Most of the time. Yeah Did you know it against Carolina? Yeah, I looked up and as soon as I saw where he took off. I knew so That was a good feeling. Do those moments ever get old you've done that several times now I love it. No You know, that's that's what we work for and when we get an opportunity to win, you know, it's a great feeling Speaking of doesn't ever get old So I don't know if you remember this but last year the I think if I remember correctly and people don't quote me on this But if I remember correctly your game winner against the Giants was your 70th field goal as a Falcon I think that may have been right. I'm not entirely sure but I remember after that game I ranked your what I thought to be your top five field goals as a Falcon and I asked you and it was funny because our Ranking was exactly the same which I was really proud of like for myself But I'm curious to know if it's changed since then Including kind of like what we just saw against Carolina So do you want me to recap what the five were? Sure. Okay, so the number five Sending to overtime in Tampa Bay in 2019 Number four 52 yarder versus Tampa Bay in 2020 Which at the time I think was your longest it may still be I'm actually not sure Number three game winner versus Miami in 2021 Number two the debut 37 yard field goal versus the Saints in 2019 And then number one the game winner versus the Giants the 40 yarder in 2021 Was number one Yeah, I would say they you know changed. Yeah At the time I probably didn't have enough I still don't have enough game winners to cover my top five I would definitely keep the first one as a Falcon in New Orleans. It was good because we've also won right That one is good I Gotta add The game just you know, yeah, yeah against Carolina easy game wild game for sure. Have you ever been a part of something quite like that? I don't know not I don't think that crazy You know, but we won so I guess the Giants was a really special for me because my Middle school high school coach who taught me how to kick Kick a football really he was at the game I'm glad you brought that up because that's actually a line of questioning that we had for the podcast later Semper is how you say yeah, yeah He was he was at the stadium that day because you went to high school and everything in In New Jersey, right? And he kind of helped you kind of kick and I think he was even quoted on our website Yeah, that was one of the best moments of his life to be able to do that with him. You have friends and family in the stands Must have been a pretty powerful moment, especially when you're so close to home Yeah, I mean I grew up 20 minutes from that stadium and I think like 85% of my high school was Giants fans But he taught me how to kick kick a football, you know, my freshman year in high school And he was a special person for me because I kept in touch with him every you know What at least once a week even after I graduated high school And we kept in touch and he always checked on me no matter what, you know, it would be the same questions But we always talked We just talked about it two days ago, but I'm good, you know Nothing changed in today's But At that, you know, he was a really special person his Heart his kindness and his generosity to just coach kids, you know, he didn't take any payments He just did that for the love of the game and helped the kids out and there's a community of Kickers that were coached by him We all you know kind of kept in touch and he kind of left that with us So and he just he just recently passed right right? Was it the type of thing that he could watch you on TV? I'd say after it like miss or something like oh there it is you like he just knows you so well Yeah, he always called I have tons of voicemails, you know Just talking what happened this and that but yeah, you know I think now he left that with us where you know it left For us to stay in touch with everybody. That's one thing that he taught me for sure That's fantastic. Do you have any memories from a high school young way with him that you you like telling? Yeah, I mean It was just the same things all the time where he would be in the parking lot just waiting for me to come you know, and we would go out in the morning and he was always early and You know, he would always hold the ball for me Okay, even at that age because he loved seeing it from that angle and he loved to feel it and You know, it's like no, it's really okay. You don't really have to get down there. You know, it was taking a little bit longer It's okay Like I don't I feel bad like having you go down and hold the balls and all that stuff But you know, he insisted and he always did that so That's for me. It's one of the things I always remember. So you were you were really into soccer, right? So give us your your kind of football origin story. It sounds like some guys asked you to punt at recess or something I grew up playing soccer and when I moved to New Jersey, I Picked up soccer naturally. I started playing that first, but then I got into football During a lunch recess, you know, they're like, hey, I know you play soccer like kick this off So we can you know to end touch football whatever and I just booted it and they're like, hey, you should come out Why don't you come play with us? So then that's how I signed up for football And that's how I really like made a lot of friends that otherwise I wouldn't have you know, especially at that time when I didn't speak English I was Trying to find my way in a new community and new, you know, new school knew everything So that helped me but I fell in love with like the physicality of football so It over time I guess a couple years before high school we chose to go with football because Number one, I loved it a lot more than soccer and to my middle school coach explained to my dad like hey Like he has a future in this and my dad was at the time. He was like, what are you talking about? He's just kicking a ball So it was really Big for my middle school coach to come to my house and explain to my parents like a like He can you know go to college for this and maybe you know even farther. So Yeah, that's that's how I got into football. That's interesting and it's interesting too that you talk about how Football kind of connected you to other people because you moved to the United States at a very like formative age, right? Like 12 13 years old Walk us through what that was like to to come here now. And you said didn't speak English like I feel like that's probably a lot for a Young teenager I have like a couple stories where like my first day in school I was assigned to all the classes with like another Korean kid so he can translate things for me So I remember that first day like I went to a gym class and all the kids are coming up Like, you know, there's a new kid in school like hey, my name is this nice meet you like welcome And I just remember like nodding like smile on my face Like the whole day and I would go home and I'm like mom. I'm no idea Yeah, so I remember that and I was in ESL so I Was with maybe five kids that just came and they didn't speak English either so we were going through the similar things But as I got into sports club soccer or football whatever it was I I started to make friends outside of that ESL or classroom environment and that helped me big time in terms of like Emerging myself into a new culture and making new friends and I was going to practice one day with a bunch of friends and I Didn't really know how to phrase a sentence of like a what do you guys do like on the weekends? Yeah You know you guys want to hang out. Yeah, cuz I was at home and like, you know shooting hoops or whatever But like I didn't really know how to like ask that like I don't know what they do here You know, right a new country like I don't know so I was in the car and I was like, you know what I'm gonna do it I was like I'm bored and they're like Right now I'm like no like Weekends and they're like, oh you're bored on the so they kind of put it together Little things I threw out They call me tang out. So then that's how I really like my first like Like move to make friends outside of like practice or classroom or anything like that I'm bored. We can't I mean you got all the necessities in there. I mean at the time. It was nerve-racking You know, I was like, I don't want to sound stupid, but like I have to ask cuz I'm tired of you know Like I don't know how to So that was that was a big moment for me for sure now it's interesting that you know sports connected you to friends in the culture and everything like that because AK was on the our podcast not too long ago and he said the exact same thing coming from Cameroon and It was interesting because he was talking about how like they're at one point He had to learn football and he was like, I'm just playing like see ball hit ball like because I was still learning the game And he was like even into high school. I was still kind of learning the ins and outs in the game Did you have something similar kind of having a? Soccer background but having to learn the game of football to you. Yeah Just just the way I had a Korean friend that I was in all the classrooms with right I had a Korean Korean friend on the football team and He was like translating stuff for Practice like coach would be like a you got to do this Then he would explain to me what he said so that I can go and do it until I started picking up English So before then like he would explain to me like a do this do that but he would translate things for me and that's how I picked up but Yeah, I mean I was naturally good at kicking But I love playing football, you know, right, you know the middle school I was playing on everything and high school I almost went to a private school to just kick but I chose not to because I wanted to play with my friends that I grew up Playing football with so I can play, you know practice and play offense defense and you know kicking was just Something that came more naturally to me. That's interesting that you bring that up because I believe and again No one quote me on this but I believe that marquis We were talking to him maybe a year ago or so and he said he was like If young way was not a kicker he could go out and be a DB or safety like he said that about you and I was like That's awesome. And of course looking back at some of your high school stuff Like you played a multitude of positions like what you said, you weren't just kicking Do you think that you could go out there and play? Safety or DB or anything? I think there's a reason why I was just kicking in college I definitely enjoy it for sure. Yeah, I know if I I know for a fact I can't play out here Maybe it's just zone just like sit back Something like that, but that's why I loved kicking off, you know kickoff was something where I can run down the field and feel Like I'm doing something other than kicking a ball, you know, cuz You know, we'd go out there to take three steps kick a ball and that's really it, right? So it's not really that stay with typical football Physicality so when I'm on that kickoff team, I was like man, I'm running down the field I'm gonna make something happen because the only time I get to do something other than kicking Now we got probably No need to run another sport that we've noticed that you're pretty good at there's like a Very serious oh yeah in the Falcons locker room and there seems to be varsity JV And then like a ninth grade team and young ways on the varsity list right for sure And I walked in I think I'm kind of good And then like I was like I could definitely like compete with those guys And then you watch a young way and Anthony Ferkster play ping-pong and you're like no, I would get scum every single time There is so much spin going on there. Yeah, it's uh, yeah We need to clear the whole like half the locker room 20 feet behind the table, you know, but uh, yeah, I've been I've been going through a little slump first Spinnabee me a lot, but it's okay. That's about the only guy who can who can take well Isn't it like Ferk is like number one. This is what I've heard from Casey Hayward So he loves to play as well and trash about it, right? Yes and Lorenzo, of course But it's like the top of the pyramid is Ferk apparently and then it's you and Felipe Yeah, I think that board is very subjective Try not to argue it Let the play speak for itself. Yeah I mean we did a like JV tournament varsity tournament like a, you know freshman team We'll see when we do that again You do have to keep your head on a swivel in that locker room because those ping-pong balls are flying around Yeah, we do have a rule. It's like you, you know, it's interference then you gotta play that point over Yeah, so let's fast forward just a little bit, you know You're going from high school to Georgia Southern and the Charter's opportunity and then you're kind of working your way back to get This opportunity which you've obviously made the most of is there a way to describe what that period was like when maybe You were kind of uncertain about how your career arc was going to go where you like Yeah, that's what we were talking early I was like should I ask him if he was like couch surfing because I know that's something that like, you know If you don't like try out circles, right? Yeah, that's something that like and guys live together Like what was your experience like? So after after the Charter's deal, I stayed out in San Diego linked up with John Carney He kicked in the league for 24 years and he was training a bunch of guys out there So I stayed out there and I tried to learn the game When I first came out of college for me was kind of, you know, what AK was saying, you know See ball get ball type of deal and for me it was see ball hit ball I didn't really get into the craft of kicking, you know But I realized as a pro you got to Pay attention to the details and you got to work on your craft and you got to continue to work to perfect that craft But I didn't really have those details down yet So when I linked up with John, he taught me a lot not only how to, you know Work on your craft, but also like as a pro what Situationally like what do you pay attention to what your routines are like and there was just so much that went into it So I learned a lot from him, but also I Stayed at Airbnb's pretty much like six seven months while I was out there. Wow, and I Probably wasn't the smartest with my money at the time But from what I got from the Charter's I spent it all on like Airbnb and pretty much, you know Like food and training fees out there. So when I ran out of money, I moved back home to my mom's in Georgia and that's when I was like Feeling like I was hitting like that bottom because I was like man I feel like I'm in high school because I'm back at my mom's but I don't have school, you know I'm not working and I know a bunch of guys that Got a job and they train on the side and but for me It didn't feel right. I was like I can only do this now Like I can always get a job when I'm 45 50 years old But I can't kick a ball then so I'm just gonna put all my energy into this now So I just you know made a routine, you know things that I learned from John. I had to really put it to work I wrote down my plans, you know deep down to the detail of what I'm gonna do Monday through Sunday and I just stay ready for those workouts and When I as I said to myself as long as I'm getting calls for workouts I'm gonna keep going. Yeah, and there were some, you know, tough times where it'd be in the off season Where it'd be like three months go by and you didn't get a single call And I'm like, you know, what am I doing with my life when all your friends are kind of getting a job and moving on and moving on You know getting an apartment and all that stuff and I'm just still sitting in my mom's, you know Lifting kicking to kind of waiting for that call. That was definitely tough, but uh, it Helped me become who I am today for sure Because that really like fired me up where I'm like, you know what when I when I make it like I Don't want to be back in that position. So for me, that was a Tough time for me for sure, right, but it must make this Where you just signed a five-year extension. Yeah, five-year extension that that I mean pretty good We're like getting all deep here, but I mean like that must have been a real moment, right? Yeah I mean, I'm definitely thankful For all the people that helped me get to this position The opportunity that I got here and once I came in here all the people that kind of helped me Get through that first year, you know back into the league after two years, you know, that was tough But just helping me, you know take advantage of that opportunity. I'm thankful for everybody that kind of helped me but I Try to always look back at that time and that's what kind of keeps me going, right? That's those those days where I'm like man, what am I doing? You know? That's my kind of motivation walking out that game day tunnel and I'm like, I'm not going back to that couch You know, I'm just gonna lock in more. Oh, I love that. I'm gonna run through a wall now When you're sitting there and you're going through all of that I feel like the anticipation of like waiting for a call is like very heavy Did it feel that way where you like you're talking about going months without getting a call and then finally getting a call? Is there like That anticipation feeling like within that time period where you're actively trying to get back in the league So it it was like phases. It was like a year and a half two years of like, you know waiting for that call so the first few ones I'm like, man, all right, here we go like here are the calls and As I kept going, I think I had like 20 plus workouts before I signed here and and I was like Like towards the end of it. I was like, I'm killing these workouts. I'm crushing it. I feel good I feel like I'm ready to go but it was always like a You did a great today, but there was something So towards the end of it. I was fired up. I said, man, I don't know what else I got to do You know, like you can crush the workout, but you don't have enough experience. So they're saying no So towards the end I was getting frustrated But that definitely helped me become better as well because that made me do push even further to be like, hey All right, let's do even better then, you know, so It went through phases when I was getting calls for workouts and stuff That's awesome I feel like you're such an inspiration for a lot of people But there was a moment in training camp that I thought was one of the coolest moments There was a fan of yours that I believe had traveled all the way from Korea and got to meet you What was that experience like because I I didn't know about that until someone had posted a video and I was like, oh my gosh That's freaking awesome. Yeah Still to me that's weird cuz I'm like not weird, but like what do you mean? He came to see me like We're kicking a ball, you know, I'm just trying to you know have fun playing the game and then You know, it's surreal to me that like I can have some influence, you know and to see People, you know support me and especially kids that kind of say hey I look up to you, you know like blah blah and I'm an inspiration to some like that's crazy to me still and But I understand that, you know, I have a platform to kind of Tell my story and I'm not the first one to go through something like that or the last one. So I love to just Share my journey and share my story So if I can just reach one kid or you know influence one kid to push themselves, you know Out of their comfort zone to say like hey, what are you doing on the weekend? You know to make a friend or something like that. So I think that would be a that'd be pretty cool Just just a couple more things as we're wrapping up here One question that I have to ask which which is not serious Specialists often spend a lot of time at practice. I'm sure you've gotten this question before Where you you can only rep so much right eventually it just looks like you and Liam and Bradley like What are the conversations like is there a level of boredom, I don't know give us some insight on what's happening on on the Especially yes, so we do have a lot of time at practice Kicking we're punning I feel like you don't want to overwork, you know the same muscles I mean, yeah, you can't you know kick all day for three hours, right? so Yeah, we do chill a lot on our on our field a lot of visualization mental reps I call them so try to you know lock in while I'm working but also You know I Guess you know the trick shot that I did in college. Yeah, I always told people that I had too much time at practice that I Mean I won't be back flipping now, but That's great. I feel like you talk about mental reps in my head. I'm just picturing like Liam like besides you just going Like that's just in my head that's kind of like what I'm in visualizing All right now we've reached the portion at the end of the podcast everyone five questions to everybody It's kind of a rapid-fire thing. Are you ready? Sure, here we go. We already kind of talked about some of your top kicks Yeah, I don't know if there was ever the favorite play of your career I don't know if there's you kicked a game winner in high school or something at Georgia Southern anything stand out. Oh My first year here when I was running down on kickoff and Ball popped out into my chest and I like By far Long snapper at the time Josh, you know, he was like I've been waiting to do that for eight years And you've been here for six years and just got that so for sure that was That was one of the top ones. It's like how did I get this? Where did it come from? Question number two. What TV show have you been binge-watching? I Really binge-watch shows cuz after you know practices and meetings. I kind of tired I don't want to sit there and just put something on and not really pay attention Right, you know, I feel that but I just put that on the guy on and just kind of lay there on my phone Oh, I'm very excited to ask this question. What is your favorite traditional Korean meal? Oh? Well, I Do go to a Korean barbecue like once a week do love Korean barbecue I just recently went last week. Yeah, and it switches for me like time to time It's like it I'll be I'll be in a mood to eat something different every week So but I feel like I do create crave more Korean food the older I get Yeah, I don't know. It's weird. I heard that some people told me that when I was going up like middle school high school and I was like going away from Korean food. I don't want to eat that, you know, whatever And they're like just wait it's gonna come back to you and I'm just like they're right. They're right Oh, I love that. There's this place in Duluth called 929 Korean barbecue And they do a like some type of I think it's like Japchae or something like that and it's spicy Yeah, it's amazing. You'll have to get it if you ever go. That's my plug Who is the Falcon that you hang out with the most? Well, we just talked about the specialist, right? you know for sure Liam and Liam Bradley and Bo Definitely have more time together Right more people are in offensive defensive meetings and we're just playing ping-pong in the Oh, man, and finally the last one. What is your biggest pet peeve? Oh No, oh, it's a tough one. I know everybody has to like think about I know and everybody's had everybody kind of gets We've had a lot of different answers I will say that yeah everything from bad drivers to people that chew with their mouth open Yeah, people who say salmon instead of salmon. That was an interesting one. That's a big one We can check back with you on that one. All right get it before it comes out Young young way coup. Thank you so much for stopping by and thanks to everyone for downloading and listening Please of course rate review subscribe all that fun stuff with the Atlanta Falcons podcast network And we will be coming to you next week with another awesome guest You