Eagles kicker Jake Elliott's journey from Lyons Township to Super Bowl champion
LA GRANGE, Ill. (CBS) – From tennis player at Lyons Township, to a Super Bowl champion, Jake Elliott's road to becoming one of the best NFL kickers began by accident.
But as CBS 2's Matt Zahn learned, if you ask his high school coaches, it was destined all along.
"The sound is what drew us first, because of that deep thump coming off of his foot," said Kurt Weinberg.
The Lyons Township football staff knew the moment they heard Elliott kick a football that he was special.
"We had a pep rally, and they had a random field goal kicking contest," said assistant football coach Jason Brauer. "We were standing there, watching and, sure enough, there goes a kid and hits a field goal through the uprights. Him and I went up to him and he introduced himself as head football coach and asked if he had an interest in playing football. At that time, he said no."
The next two seasons, Elliott excelled on the tennis court, the very place he would later be asked the same question, but this time, with a different answer.
"We were struggling to make an extra point. We were practicing, getting ready, had two weeks before the first game," Brauer said. "Coach Weinberg said, 'Hey Jake's over there at the tennis courts. Want to give it one more try?'"
It didn't take long for Elliott's ability to be tested.
"Jake was a junior. We really didn't know the extent of his talent, so we said, 'Let's give it a try,'" Weinberg said. "It was a 52-yarder. He hit it and it was our Homecoming game and kept us alive in the playoffs and tings like that, so it was pretty exciting."
Brauer added, "He followed that up the next week with a 47-yard field goal at the buzzer to beat York in back-to-back weeks."
Elliott went on to kick at the University of Memphis. After being picked in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2017 NFL Draft, he was later signed by the Philadelphia Eagles off their practice squad, ending his rookie season a Super Bowl champion.
"You get a little emotional seeing that, seeing him ice the game for the Eagles and put it away is really cool because Jake's such a great person," Weinberg said. "To see him have that level of success."
It's success that's been shared with his former coaches, who will be cheering for Elliott as he makes a second Super Bowl appearance in six NFL seasons. Elliott has made 87% of his field goals and 92.6% of his extra points this season.
"It's awesome," said Weinberg. "Jake is where he's at because he's Jake but it's cool to know you were able to be around him and see him kind of develop a little bit and have success and go from never having done it before to being one of the best in the world is pretty cool to watch."
Brauer added, "My son is more of an Eagles fan I think than a Bears fan, which you can thank Jake for that and it's a lot of fun. It's a crazy story that I hope adds another really cool chapter this Sunday."
Coach Brauer was able to make the trip to Arizona for the big game with his 9-year-old son. The Eagles are slight favorites against the Kansas City Chiefs. And if the past is any indication, the Eagles can feel confident in their kicker with the game on the line.
