Kicking competition a small part of eventful month for CU Buffs' Jace Feely
Apr. 10—About a month ago, new Colorado kicker Jace Feely underwent a heart procedure. A minor one by the standards of heart procedures, yet a significant one nonetheless.
Less than two weeks ago, Feely got engaged. Talk about opposing tugs at the heartstrings.
No doubt, it's been an eventful month for Feely, the son of former NFL kicker Jay Feely and a transfer from Arizona State who is trying to stake his claim to the starting job this spring for the Buffaloes.
Feely said he endured cardio ablation surgery, which treats heart rhythm problems but said he's a "full go" as the Buffs continue spring practice this week.
"I know I had (the heart issue), something similar to it back at ASU and I only thought I was taking too much caffeine or something like that," Feely said. "Then I got up here and it started getting a little bit more frequent, and ended up becoming a little bit more prevalent in my life.
"It's definitely not the best hearing you need heart surgery at 20 years old. But I got through it. My parents came up, all the coaches are very supportive and everything went well."
Feely's father scored 1,451 points in a 14-year NFL career that included stops with Atlanta, Arizona, Miami, Chicago and New York (both the Giants and Jets). The younger Feely was well on his way to following in his father's footsteps as a prep star in Arizona, earning first team All-State honors from the Arizona Republic as a punter before arriving at Arizona State.
Feely redshirted in 2021 and played sparingly at ASU last year, appearing in four games. He knocked down his only PAT attempt, booted one punt for 37 yards, and recorded touchbacks on two of his four kickoff attempts.
Yet in the aftermath of the firing of former ASU coach Herman Edwards, Feely entered the transfer portal. He said he knew first-year CU coach Deion Sanders from when Sanders was working at the NFL Network along with Feely's father. Feely said Sanders tried to get him to play for his high school team in Texas, and while that never happened, the pair have finally gotten together in Boulder.
"It was a little rough there (at ASU) and they obviously had a huge coaching change as well," Feely said. "But I was looking for a lot more professionalism and I think I found it here, especially with Deion. The way he holds guys accountable in every part of their life, I missed something like that at ASU, so I was very glad to have it happen here."
Feely's competition for the job will come primarily from Alejandro Mata, who kicked for Sanders last season at Jackson State. Feely got a small taste of kicking at Folsom Field during warm-ups last fall when ASU visited, and while Mata has more on-field collegiate experience, Feely is hoping his kicking lineage helps make the difference in the competition for the job.
"He's always been a rock in my corner through everything and I think through the biggest was when I was at ASU for those two years," Feely said. "I wasn't happy there and I was working my butt off and I was better and I just didn't get my shot. He was in college two years before he got his, so we kind of had similar bonding right there.
"You won't make a kick unless everything times up perfectly. And one thing could be off and it throws off everything, whether it's your steps, whether it's where your hips are firing; everything needs to be perfect. And what we work for practicing hours and hours a day is we work for that perfect kick and to be able to hit that and see that ball come off and be like, all right, there's perfection and I can chase that."
