Tyler Funk has used up his eligibility as a kicker for the Red Men football team, but is not finished with the sport. He may be kicking as you read this, getting ready for a Division II-III combine next month in Chicago. After that, hopefully, another chance to show his talents in New Jersey in February. Then? Who knows?

           Some interesting new doors have opened during a week that has been testing and rewarding for Funk. Testing in the form of the last week of fall semester. Rewarding because of a number of national honors: he was named a first-team Division III All-America as a kicker by the American Football Coaches Association and “D3football.com” and a third-team designation on the Associated Press Little All-America team consisting of Division II, III and NAIA players.

           The 2010 honors cap a unique two seasons playing for coach Tim Rucks. Last year, he was the Division III leader in punting, earned College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin player of the week status three times, was named Associated Press second-team little All-America.

           This semester break will be different for Funk.

           “Monday (Dec. 20) I'm actually going to start getting everything going,” Funk says, taking a break Dec. 16 before his last final. “I've got my shoes out of the car and got them all ready and everything.

           “I haven't kicked at all since the season's been over (Nov. 13). I usually take a month or two off, and I'll start kicking again. But with things coming up earlier than they would with football season, I'm going to start. Starting Monday, I'll start kicking and working out again.”

           As he gets going again, Funk, who says he will kick two or three ties a week, does not need much more than a football and his kicking tee. He could use someone to shag balls.

           “Maybe I'll just have my dad go out there and throw them back,” Funk says of his father, David. “He used to do that in high school, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind going back and doing it a little more.”

           Dad? In.

           “I would do anything it takes to help him to continue on kicking,” David says.

           David, who is employed by SC Johnson in Racine, will also help provide a place to kick indoors. The folks at the Johnson Mutual Benefit Association facility have been nice enough to allow Tyler to kick there in the past.

 

           While Tyler is kicking, Rucks will be doing what he can to help. Rucks has DVDs of Funk's work ready for any requests, which have been coming via phone.

           “I've sent a bunch out, and I'm looking at them right now on my desk,” Rucks says. “I just had the video guy make me a bunch because I get several requests a week. They want to see him. They see the stats and they want to take a look at him.

           “One thing about pro scouts, they don't give you much feedback. They just want to know a couple things. They want the film and they want to know if he's a good guy, bad guy, that type of information. They sort of go from there. I don't have any idea what they're thinking. Kickers are a little bit different in that they don't rank them or anything.

           “With kickers, it's just, there's a big lot of them out there, and if someone sees something they like they're going to hold onto your name, and they might (draft) you in the end. But they're not like any other position, where they end up being recruited and timed and all that type of thing.”

           The numbers show Funk made two 52-yard field goals in 2009 and another in 2010 (he arrived at Carthage in 2008 but did not play that season after two unsatisfying years at Division I Illinois State). He made 23 of 28 field goals in two years (3 of 3 from 50 yards or better), with four of the misses coming from 40 to 49 yards.

           His punting average dipped to 36.6 yards in 2010 from 44.4 in 2009, and he was not used regularly on kickoffs.

           “When I talked to coach Rucks, he mentioned that one of the negatives that he's gotten back was the fact that I don't kick off, Funk says. “Because there's only a 53-man roster (in the NFL), they like the kicker to be the kickoff guy and field goal guy. I (kicked off) in high school, but it was easier in high school because you could just line drive it into the end zone and they couldn't bring it back (it was an automatic touchback) where at this level, they want you to go deep and have a lot of hang time on it. I've always struggled with that, so he said to go somewhere I'm going to have to absolutely improve on that.”        

           It seems to be a longshot that Funk would someday get paid to kick. But how likely was it he would be goofing around one day near Horlick High School before his eighth grade year, end up kicking on the varsity by the end of his freshman season and being named all-state by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel as a senior in 2005?

           “I'll never forget,” David Funk said. “He was a very good soccer player, played on all the club teams, and just one day in eighth grade, he decided to go up and kick some field goals. He came home and said, 'Dad, the Horlick football coach wants to know if I can kick footballs for him.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding. So I went up there and started shagging for him. Coming out of middle school, he's kicking 45-yard field goals. I told him, 'You've got to pursue that.' So he quit soccer and became dedicated to football, and I really enjoyed being a part of his development, and did whatever I could to help him practice. I got as much joy out of it as he did, I think.”

 

           Tyler was skeptical when the invitation came to kick for the Rebels. To that point, he had given football very little thought.

           “But then I started talking to my dad and thinking about college and scholarships and stuff like that,” Tyler said. “There's more money, obviously, in football, than there is with soccer. So I thought about it, and said 'I'm going to try it.' It worked out good, and I ended up starting my freshman year on varsity the last couple games, and just went from there.”

           Now, he is here, coming off a senior season in which he made 15 of 18 field goal attempts. The misses? 

           “Oh, man,” Funk says, and you get the feeling each of the misses bother him. “I know exactly what happened. I pushed the one against Concordia (Wisconsin). The one against North Park, I played the wind more than I should have, and I pulled it a little. It never came back. The one against Franklin, it was a 49-yarder into the wind. I hit it good, but it just came up short. Nothing you can do about that.”

           It was a mixed bag against Concordia. He was good from 52 yards to open the scoring.

           “It was the first drive of the game,” Funk says. “It was a pretty nice day. Good snap, good hold, and right away I knew I hit it really good. You can always feel it when you hit it good. I looked up, saw it was going right down the middle. ... I actually didn't see it go through, but coach Rucks said it made it by about six or seven yards. That was probably one of the best balls I ever hit.”

           Steve Schonert, who kicked at Northern Iowa and was given a tryout by the Minnesota Vikings, was Funk's kicking coach at Horlick.

           “After high school, I really didn't have a coach like that,” Funk says. “He was the closest I ever had to a personal coach.”

           Funk's work ethic and attention to detail impress Rucks.

           “I think the one thing about Tyler that I do know, and not too many people know, he is actually — more than people understand — a real student of his game,” Rucks says. “He watches kickers and punters on TV and he can tell you what they're doing wrong and they're angle of approach, that type of thing. He does that with guys on our team, too. He's real analytical of his craft. He really is. He knows from observation what people do right, what they wrong and he tries to put that into his game himself.”

 

           If Funk is unable to get a look from an NFL team, his is willing to look elsewhere.

           “I'd do Arena (Football League) for sure,” Funk says. “It would be nice to be able to do something and get paid for it and then still be able to work on your skills and get better. 

           “It would be cool if I could get in (to Arena), just hopefully keep the dream alive.”    

           If the dream does not come true, Funk likely will go into teaching. He has a double major — special education and elementary education. He is on track to graduate in December, 2011 and plans to be student teaching the following spring.

           “We had a manager for our (Horlick) baseball team, Ben Kroes, who was a special ed student and I got really close with him,” Funk says. “I've been working with kids ever since. I love doing it.”

           Funk feels he owes a lot to Rucks, who recruited Funk while he was in high school but welcomed him after the Illinois State experience.

           “I've always thanked coach Rucks,” Funk says. “He gave me an opportunity. There was a time when I was ineligible (one credit short of being on schedule to graduate), and he could have told me he didn't want me to come back. I had to sit out a year. He stuck with me, said just do what you've got to do to get your grades right and then come back for football. He gave me an opportunity when he didn't have to, and I can't thank him enough. With that opportunity I've excelled not only on the field but in the classroom compared to what I did at ISU. I can't say enough about him as a coach, as a man, everything.”

 

           Favorite kicker: “I've got a couple. I like Mason Crosby, just because he comes in and just booms it. He's got a huge leg. As much as I hate the Bears, Robbie Gould, he's pretty money. It's hard to say because he's a Bear, but I've got to go with him. Gould is gold, as they say.”

           Take this class: “I personally enjoy any class that Professor (Dennis) Munk (Director of Teaching and Learning; Professor of Education) has taught. He taught some education classes, and any class that he's taught, I've really enjoyed. He's a really good teacher. He knows how to talk to the kids, he knows how to present the material. Everything. So any class he teaches, I would recommend to take.”
           Favorite non-football team: “I have to go with the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm a Brewers fans. I love the Brewers. I have since before they even made the playoffs (2008), when I was a little kid, back in the County Stadium days.”

           High tech device you use most: “Probably just my iPod touch. I'm not a real high tech kind of guy.”

           Bowl Championship Series, good or bad?: “I say bad. I think the top eight teams could win a championship. It stinks to have that, 'What if? What if?' It has its good and its bad. I'd personally like to see a playoff. I think you'd get more of a true champion just like any other sport, whether they were the lower seed or not. It's still a true champion. Division I, Double A, II and III do it, so it obviously works. But it's all about money, so they won't do it.”

           Favorite food: “Oh, I've got to go pizza. I love pizza. I can eat cold pizza every single day.”