Kickers Chris Boswell of the Steelers and Randy Bullock of the Bengals go from teammates to adversaries
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Two weeks ago, the cleat was on the other foot.
When Randy Bullock filled in for Steelers kicker Chris Boswell against the New York Giants and dressed for last week鈥檚 win at Buffalo, it was not the first time the two kickers were teammates.
During the 2014 off-season, Boswell was in the Houston Texans organization, where Bullock was the incumbent kicker. But Boswell didn鈥檛 win the Texans job 鈥� or any other 鈥� until finally landing with the Steelers last fall.
In fact, Boswell earned the Steelers job only after beating out Bullock during an open audition early last October at Heinz Field. The Steelers had gone through three kickers due to injury or ineffective play.
This season, when Boswell sat out the Steelers鈥� Week 13 win over the Giants with an abdominal injury, Bullock contributed three field goals and extra point in Pittsburgh鈥檚 24-14 win. For his efforts, Bullock was awarded a game ball in Steelers colors. He was released this Monday.
On Sunday, Boswell and Bullock will be adversaries again because the Cincinnati Bengals signed Bullock this week after releasing struggling veteran Mike Nugent.
Boswell is back to full health, converting two field goals and three extra points in last week鈥檚 win over the Bills. Boswell isn鈥檛 even sure how he got hurt, but said he began experiencing sharp pain during the Friday practice before the Giants game. Boswell said it was the first time he鈥檚 been injured, but he reported no problems with the wind and cold in Buffalo.
鈥淜icked well, didn鈥檛 feel it, didn鈥檛 hold me back at all,鈥� he said. 鈥淒id pretty good for not kicking the last week. Just kind of build on it and see what happens.鈥�
Though they鈥檒l be on opposite sidelines on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, Boswell said he has an appreciation for what Bullock did for the Steelers.
Bullock didn鈥檛 arrive in Pittsburgh until the wee hours of Dec. 3 and kicked the next day with just one walk-through practice with holder Jordan Berry and long snapper Greg Warren.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard, and people don鈥檛 really think about that, to not have any work with guys and not being around the team, not being around the operation and come in and make all those kicks,鈥� Boswell said.
It鈥檚 a situation that Boswell said he can relate to. Because kickers are rarely kept on practice squads, they鈥檙e usually free agents looking for their next opportunity and working out on the side. That鈥檚 how the Steelers unearthed Boswell, who has made 43 of 50 field goal attempts and 55 of 56 extra points in his brief career.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of hard. You don鈥檛 really know when your time is coming. You just have to be prepared in case it does come,鈥� Boswell said. 鈥淧rops to (Bullock). He鈥檚 been at it for a while and he didn鈥檛 seem to have anything wrong with his kicks. He was hitting a good ball.
鈥淓ven when I came in last year, I had a week and a half before I kicked. He had a day and a half.鈥�