Mason Crosby became the third-highest-paid kicker in the NFL this week. That would have been unthinkable following the 2012 season.
Crosby had just completed a season in which he was 21-of-33 on field goals. That 63.6 percent represented a career low.
Crosby had never hit below 75 percent of his field goals in any season prior (or since). It was so bad, the Green Bay Packers brought competition in for their kicker during training camp in 2013.
But Crosby pulled out of it, connecting on a career-high 89.2 percent of his field goals in 2013. He credited some advice he received from then-Packers cornerback Charles Woodson for the turnaround on Green and Gold Today, Thursday morning.
“Charles Woodson said something to me like, ‘Are you trying to make field goals?’ I don’t go out there and try to be a defensive back. I’m not trying to do all of these things. I just go out there and I do it. I do it because I’ve trained it and I’ve played it… It was the simplest concept and idea, but I always remember him saying that. That’s when I came out of it,” Crosby told Jason Wilde.
Crosby has hit above 80 percent of his kicks in every season since. That earned him an average salary of more than $4 million per season.
All thanks to Charles Woodson.