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Rams retiree kicks back
Jeff Wilkins
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By Tom Williams
Wilkins prepares for life minus football
The former YSU kicker retired as the NFL’s 18th all-time leading scorer.
YOUNGS-TOWN — Fourteen-year NFL veteran kicker Jeff Wilkins didn’t need anyone to tell him it was time to file retirement papers.
His aching back sent him the message loud and clear.
“I’ve been contemplating it for a couple of years,” said Wilkins, who took part in Tuesday’s Youngstown State University’s kickers and punters camp at Stambaugh Stadium. “It seemed like the right time.
“I’ve already had a knee surgery and the back issue is sketchy right now,” said Wilkins who retired Feb. 29. “I have a 3-year-old [and] I want to be able in two, three or five years from now to pick her up, play in the backyard.
“When I get up in the morning, those knees and ankles are a little sore,” said Wilkins, who kicked three field goals and two extra points in the Rams’ 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. “Hopefully I’ve caught it before it’s too late.”
Wilkins, who kicked for Austintown Fitch High School and YSU, ended his NFL career 18th on the all-time scoring list with 1,416 points, six behind Matt Bahr.
His 11th season with the Rams took its toll physically, leaving him with a bulging disc and nerve damage in his back.
Rather than undergo surgery, Wilkins, 36, said he has been rehabbing the injury and taking cortisone injections.
“Without the constant banging and stuff that comes with kicking, hopefully it won’t get any worse,” Wilkins said. “It maybe has gotten a little better.”
Asked if he’d consider playing again should a team lose its kicker this fall and make a desperation plea, Wilkins said, “Not a chance.
“I started noticing a few years back [that I was] coming down the ladder, that my leg strength wasn’t there and some injuries crept up.
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NO COACHING PLANNED: Jeff Wilkins, who helped at a kickers and punters camp at Youngstown State Tuesday, says he has no plans to coach.
“I would never say never, but I highly doubt that I would ever [return],” Wilkins said. “It was a great run and I’ve been truly blessed, but it’s time to move on.”
He’ll most miss is locker room camaraderie — “hanging out with the guys, the smack talk back and forth during practice.”
Wilkins and his wife, Tina, have daughters ages 16, 6 and 3. They are building a house in Canfield and will move here in early August.
Wilkins said he hasn’t decided what he wants to do next in his career, but he has no interest in football coaching.
“I give coaches a lot of credit — they put in so many hours,” Wilkins said. “I’m looking forward to enjoying going and watching [football games] and relax a little bit. I’m ready to step back and see what my kids are going to do.”
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WORDS OF WISDOM: Jeff Wilkins, left, former placekicker at Youngstown State and in the NFL, gives pointers to high school-aged participants at a kickers and punters camp at Youngstown State University's Stambaugh Stadium Tuesday.
Wilkins, who was not drafted, turned pro in 1994. He spent part of a season with the Philadelphia Eagles, then kicked for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
He signed a free-agent contract with the Rams in 1997 and retired with franchise records for field goals made (265), points (1,223) and longest (57 yards).
Wilkins said he’s aware of the physical pain so many NFL retirees suffer.
“I’m a kicker so I didn’t have to go through a quarter of what those guys went through,” Wilkins said of the offensive and defensive regulars.
“I’ve always said [about] linemen and running backs that they make a lot of money, but they earn it because when they are 40, 50 and 60 years old, they are going through multiple surgeries.”
williams@vindy.com