Blake Mazza
- Thread starter etowncoug
- Start date
Sorry to see this. At least he will have the chance to pick where he goes; a lot of teams need a reliable FG kicker.
I saw he got engaged over the summer. Pullman might be a hard sell for the wife.
I don't know....kicking is kicking, the numbers you put up are 100% individual, so the program or system you play in is irrelevant. If you average 50 yards/FG and make 95% of them, the NFL scouts don't care if its for WSU or Clemson. Now if he just wants to compete in a better league, that's a different story.
Jason Hanson disagrees. If he weren’t in Detroit all those years he’d be considered the GOAT for kickers 😁.
For the record, though, I agree with your statement.
Me too. He’s been so good and the job should be his at WSU. K isn’t really much different from QB in that only one guy can play and there’s always a few on the roster. I’m thinking wherever he goes if it’s a solid program he will have to compete for the job with another good kicker.
Mazza didn’t handle kickoffs, did he? Maybe he wants to improve his stock In that regard as well as get closer to home.
Who was doing kickoffs? Unless you are 95% from inside 50, you aren’t sniffing the NFL if you aren’t kicking it through the end zone in college too. NFL rosters can’t carry a kickoff specialist and other than a few punters who do it, they expect their kickers to be getting touchbacks along with being 85%+ FG.
I have to see if any of the games are still on my YouTubeTV DVR. I could swear Mazza wasn’t kicking off. Could be wrong, of course. But remember doing a double take at some point during the year.
I had forgotten that he redshirted his freshman year at Arkansas. Maybe a return to the SEC or his home state of Texas?
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
he's starting out on the wrong foot if that is the case, setting precedent for the rest of his life
Indeed. When my son got engaged a year and a half ago, we talked with his fiance that she needed to realize that there was a chance that they would have to move to a different part of the country for my son to get a job. At the time, she was ok with it. My son is graduating with an aerospace engineering degree and there are no listed openings for aerospace engineers in our area. Now, four months from graduation, she's telling him that maybe he could take a lesser job to start with. I told my son that accepting less than you want because your spouse is unwilling to compromise is the surest way that their marriage won't last. He needs to take her feelings into account, but she does too. Hope that Mazza is doing this for his reasons too. Wish him the best.
My father in law's advice to me and his daughter was "follow the opportunities". There is plenty of time to move back to the PNW (if that is what you decide that you want to do) after you have established yourself in your career.
Good advice; it certainly worked for us.
Good advice; it certainly worked for us.
Great post/advice generally, but he just isn't in a situation anywhere close to taking a lesser job outside of his field that doesn't make use of an engineering degree. He goes on the field a few times a game to kick a ball through uprights (and, subject to uncertainty, kickoffs) in the same way in Waco or Stillwater that he would do it in Pullman or Pac-12 road environments. Even if he played at a non-Power 5, he'd likely have the same NFL opportunities, and he'll almost certainly have some good Power 5 opportunities where, if he's as good as we know he is, he'll start.
Other than the potential for something like lucking into a terrible long snapper and/or holder, his situation lends itself to this kind of thing about as much as any player in college football. This is the price of a free market for transfers without losing eligibility. I am not a fan of free transfers generally, but for him, it's easy to see how this makes sense, and it isn't all that unreasonable to get closer to home in this scenario ... subject to the possibility of him being somewhere like Buffalo or Cleveland in a year anyway if trying to stick in the NFL.
I'm not saying that Mazza shouldn't transfer. I'm saying that if he's transferring, it's because it's works for him and his future and not just because someone is asking him too. Maybe he can still get NFL attention as a kicker for UTSA, maybe not. One could argue that given the incompetent way that the 2020 season was handled by the Pac-12, he's better off getting the hell out of Pullman. Not my place to say.
"Last summer, Mazza got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Makenzie Wise, with whom he’s maintained a long-distance relationship for three years."
So... Miss Thing didn't want to move to Pullman, not even just for 6 months. Hope she's holding down a six figure salary to justify that stance.
So... Miss Thing didn't want to move to Pullman, not even just for 6 months. Hope she's holding down a six figure salary to justify that stance.
Thousands of reasons to move closer to their long term destination, which is probably Texas, now. I'm bummed we'll lose a Groza finalist but it's an understandable decision.
From the same article:
"The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced family values for Mazza, whose grandfather died less than a year ago from complications not related to the coronavirus. The kicker lamented, “I wish he could’ve seen me play more.”
With trips to Pullman costing up to $2,000, his parents were only able to attend a handful of games every year."
So maybe he's grown up and is starting to decide what's important to him, and is making decisions accordingly. Can't fault him for that.
The article also discusses issues he's having with his plant foot, in spite of not being called on to kick all that much. That may limit his potential to continue to play in the future, and maybe he knows that's the case.
And a changed circumstance - he's decided to get married. Who wants to live apart from their new spouse for a year? If she's in school too, maybe she can't come to WSU and graduate that quickly. As a grad transfer, he's got great flexibility.
I don't think we know enough to fault him, or to blame her. He's done well for us, and doesn't owe us anything. I hope he catches on somewhere, and ends up on an NFL roster, if that's what he wants.
If you think you want to get married, wait until you're 35. Then wait 7 more years.
Would need to see pics of the future Mrs. Mazza or copies of her parents' financial statements before agreeing.
Me too. They couldn't be happier. They both said they would never date American women again before they ended up marrying their girlfriends at the time.
One of them I did a loan for...and I brought the signing papers to their house. And my buddy asked me if I wanted something to drink...and I said sure..I'll go get it. He had a smirk on his face. Well, his Russian wife promptly told me to sit back down and not only made me a drink...but cooked me a fantastic meal. Who am I to argue?
And because of her, this dude went from being a machinist to a very successful businessman with her help and now lives on Lake Washington.
I'm in Costa Rica right now for a good while. Its not bad here, either. I will make a voyage to Columbia for sure.
Which side? Pacific or Atlantic.
This time last year was packing to head to Liberia, then off to a resort near Tamarindo. It was a damned near perfect vacation. Really enjoyed the 'dry' side of Costa Rica - weather dry, not my liver.
I was just over in Tamarindo.. Loved it. Stayed at Hotel La Palapa right on the beach. Definitely recommend it. 2 drinks for 7 bucks all day every day...so yeah, your liver won't be dry lol.
I currently live in Ciudad Colon which is in the central valley about 30 minutes west of San Jose. I like it here because there is a constant spring breeze and its not a tourist trap...so I am forced to learn Spanish...which is good.
I may move to Tamarindo in March...for 2 weeks or a month. Probably more like 2 weeks. Too much temptation there for ye of weak will
Oh I should mention....the flights are super cheap right now. My flight down from Seattle was $170...and flight going back the end of March is $245. May have to re-direct that to Columbia lol
All of the restaurants are open down here. All of them are open air. Or at least the ones I have been to. I haven't eaten a single meal inside. So that helps with the covid.
Only thing is they shut everything down at 9. Supposedly the beaches were to shut down at 2...but I was at one of the most popular beaches and no enforcement of that. They do a good job of making everyone wash their hands and take their temp down here before entering...and masks required except for at your seat.
If you make it down, I'll hop on a puddle jumper to Tamarindo and put a few of those $7 rounds on my tab. Big spender here 😁
