Hlas: Nate Kaeding still a winner

In June 2008, Nate Kaeding left San Diego to make his way back home to Coralville as quickly as possible. There was a flood.

He flew into Des Moines instead of Cedar Rapids because I-380 had been closed. He landed in Des Moines in the middle of the night and took a $250 cab ride to Iowa City. A few hours later, he began the first of a few days of sandbagging.

Soon after, he directed half of the proceeds from his annual Nate Kaeding Golf Tournament in Coralville to help establish the Coralville/Iowa City Area Flood Relief Fund.

Kaeding's event, which began in 2006, benefitted the Russell and Ann Gerdin American Cancer Society Hope Lodge and the Greater Iowa City/Coralville Area Sports Authority in 2009.

Not long ago, Kaeding and his wife, Samantha, joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Iowa City Board of Directors. They both are certified school teachers who care deeply about literacy issues.

“I want to get out there and help develop young people's lives,” Kaeding said back when he was a senior majoring in education at the University of Iowa and a student-teacher of ninth-grade American history at Wilton High School. “Teaching is a very rewarding profession.”

Being an NFL player is what Kaeding does for a living. It isn't, however, what makes him.

But right now, the former Iowa City West/University of Iowa athlete surely is in emotional pain. He missed all three of his field goal tries in the San Diego Chargers' 17-14 AFC playoff loss to the New York Jets Sunday in San Diego, two from a distance in which he had been automatic in the regular-season.

Suddenly, Kaeding is the target of jokes and insults. He didn't get the job done when it mattered most and must live with that.

It doesn't matter if your base salary is

$1.45 million. You can't buy anything to make that go away.

For all the ego-tripping and weirdness that come with the pro sports territory, here is a grounded, perfection-driven person who works in San Diego, the self-described “America's Finest City.” Yet, Kaeding has never stopped making his home in Coralville-Iowa City. He embraces being part of that community instead of shielding himself from it.

Alas, the way the nation looks at this season's All-Pro kicker has changed. And yes, this is a second-time All-Pro, the same player who made a game-winning 52-yard field goal for the Chargers with three seconds left on Dec. 20, and who made all 20 of his field goal attempts in San Diego's 11-game win streak.

None of that matters to Chargers fans today.

But know this: Kaeding stayed in the Chargers' locker room after Sunday's game until every question had been asked of him by every reporter. The weekend before, after missing two short field goals in Cincinnati's playoff loss to the Jets, Bengals kicker Shayne Graham bolted without facing the media.

“I'm not gonna feel sorry for myself,” Kaeding said Sunday. “I feel sorry for my teammates, coaches and the support staff here. I feel like I let everybody down.

“It's going to be a tough few months, but if you relish the good part, you've gotta work through the bad as well. It'll be tough. I'll let this rest, then pick up the pieces.”

It'll be tough, all right. Kaeding was dragged through the mud on the Internet, and not just by Joe Blogger. A page on ESPN.com's Page 2 stupidly suggested Kaeding practice on a linked Web site that has a video kicking game.

This is what you sign on for in pro sports. The good stuff can be great, but the bad stuff can be ugly.

Last June, Kaeding said the following to The Gazette's Marc Morehouse when discussing kickers:

“If you can't accept the fact that you're going to miss it and be that guy everybody hates for a while, then you can't play the game at my position.”

Kaeding is that guy right now. Except it isn't everybody who hates him. Just fools.