Buckeyes’ Pretorius kicking in spotlight

COLUMBUS (AP) — This is the way Ryan Pretorius always figured it would be, playing big games in front of huge and raucous crowds.

Only he figured he’d be in Paris participating in this week’s Rugby World Cup.

Instead, he’ll be the placekicker for No. 12 Ohio State on Saturday against Akron in front of 105,000 screaming fans at the Horseshoe.

Pretorius, born and raised in South Africa, has made it to the spotlight despite switching sports, overcoming incompetent or unscrupulous agents and team officials and getting turned down by many of the top college football programs in the country.

“It’s a crazy story,” he said.

Overnight success

As a 28-year-old college junior, he’s become an overnight success.

“He’s older than some of the coaches, I think,” Ohio State wide receiver Brian Robiskie said, laughing.

The son of a dentist, Pretorius was all about sports growing up in Durban.

“All of my friends would go out at night and chase girls around, I would spend just hours and hours kicking a rugby ball and trying to perfect that,” he said. “My friends used to think I was crazy and it paid off in a roundabout way.”

Hoping to become a professional rugby player, he moved to England when he was about 18.

“To tell you the truth, I used to be a big mummy’s boy,” he said in his Afrikaans-accented English. “I hated England because in South Africa I was pretty spoiled because we had a beautiful home and servants. I missed that.”

Movies got him interested

Seeing the movies “Rudy” and “Jerry Maguire” while he was in high school in South Africa got Pretorius interested in American football.

While in Denver on a vacation, he spoke with former NFL kicker Gary Anderson, who is also a native of Durban and a family friend. Anderson urged Pretorius to make a video of his kicking abilities.

“For me the toughest thing was kicking with shoulder pads and a helmet on,” he said. “I had never done it and hardly knew anyone who had. And then just being able to trust someone holding a ball for you.”