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Rich Karlis gained notoriety as the NFL’s last full-time barefoot kicker. He picked up the technique during his freshman season at Cincinnati.
“I saw Tony Franklin from Texas A&M do it on TV and was intrigued. It worked pretty well for me.” Karlis said. “I had a lot of opportunities to make tackles over the years and luckily nobody ever stepped on my foot. I think kickers have gotten smarter these days.”
Karlis isn’t the only barefoot kicker from Northeastern Ohio. Euclid graduate Paul McFadden kicked barefoot at Youngstown State University and went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons from 1984-1989.
McFadden’s son Connor – a Poland High School graduate – currently is a kicker at YSU and has also dabbled in barefoot kicking.
“That’s wonderful that Connor is kicking at YSU like his dad,” Karlis said. “I haven’t had the chance to be in touch with Paul for a couple of years, but he’s a really good guy.”
Karlis’ brother-in-law is Kirk Lowdermilk. Lowdermilk graduated from Salem in 1981 before starring at center for Ohio State and playing in the NFL for 11 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts.
Salem High School received the gold football in the mail from the NFL last Friday according to principal Sean Kirkland.
“We’ve been in contact with Rich (Karlis) over the last couple of weeks to come back and do a formal presentation, but we haven’t been able to work out a date yet,” Kirkland said.
The ball currently resides in Kirkland’s office. He said the plan is to eventually display the ball in one of the trophy cases outside Cabas Gymnasium, but the school first hopes to modernize and re-configure the area this summer.
Derek Wolfe was a part of the Broncos team that lost to the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, but was injured and not on the active roster for the game. Therefore, Beaver Local did not receive a football.
Boardman and Warren Harding lead high schools in the Mahoning Valley with two footballs each.
Boardman was honored for Bernie Kosar being a Cowboys backup quarterback for Super Bowl XXVII as well as Steve Vallos, who was a backup offensive lineman for the Broncos two seasons ago.
Warren Harding was honored for Paul Warfield’s three Super Bowl appearances with the Dolphins in the early ’70s as well as Mario Manningham’s with the Giants in the 2011 season.
Two defunct area schools were also honored. Youngstown Chaney has two honorees. Matt Cavanaugh (49ers and Giants) and Jerry Olsavsky (Steelers), while Warren Western Reserve claims Ross Browner (Bengals).
Other area schools honored were Alliance (Len Dawson, Chiefs), Austintown Fitch (Jeff Wilkins, Rams) and Warren Champion (Randy Gradishar, Broncos).
Among Ohio high hchools, Cleveland Glenville has the most players honored with five.
Nationwide, Port Arthur Memorial (Texas) leads the way with eight representatives.