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Pretorius Named Semi-Finalists for 2007 Lou Groza Award

The Palm Beach County Sports Institute and Sports Commission are proud to announce the 20 semifinalists for the 2007 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl. These twenty place-kickers have all excelled throughout the season.

2005 Groza winner Alexis Serna of Oregon State has kicked his way onto the ballot for the third season. 2006 semifinalists back for consideration again are Florida State?s Gary Cismesia, Wisconsin?s Taylor Mehlhaff, and Wake Forest?s Sam Swank.

Through 10 weeks of the season, Ohio State?s [URL="https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1059342"]Ryan Pretorius[/URL] leads the nation in kick scoring with 91 points. Jose Martinez of UTEP has the longest field goal among our semi-finalists, 57 yards. Boise State?s Kyle Brotzman?s 44 of 44 PAT?s is best among our semi-finalists in that category.

Well done, boet! :oh:

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DDN

Tom Archdeacon: At 28, Pretorius finally OSU kicker

By Tom Archdeacon
Staff Writer

Thursday, January 03, 2008
COLUMBUS ? Most Ohio State's football players are recruited. A few transfer in, and a few others are asked to walk-on.
And then there is Ryan Pretorius.


He snuck into the Woody Hayes Center and nosed around the Buckeyes' practice facility until he finally bumped into Jim Tressel.
"I introduced myself and said, 'I want to kick here,' '' Pretorius remembered.
The Bucks' head football coach sized up the 5-foot-9 interloper, picked up his distinct South African accent and, according to Pretorius, asked, "Oh yeah, so what do you know about football.''



Cont...
 
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Another story on Ryan, and for Steve19, Wade, and the guy with the next FMR in Atlanta, this one has a Naas Botha reference. :wink2:

thelantern

Pretorius trades rugby for football

Every morning the routine was the same. Roll out of bed, grab the football and hop on the Denver city bus line to the nearest football field.

But it was not always so simple for Ohio State kicker Ryan Pretorius.

It could not be just any field; it had to have a turf surface - none of this muddy grass stuff. Grass cannot withstand four to six hours of kicking one field goal after another. Problem was, the only nearby turf field happened to be gated. The seven-foot chain link fence proved to be just another small hurdle for the 5-foot-8, 182-pound Pretorius.

He simply chucked the football to the other side and climbed over the fence to the land of opportunity.

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osugrad21;1047819; said:
DDN

Tom Archdeacon: At 28, Pretorius finally OSU kicker

By Tom Archdeacon
Staff Writer

Thursday, January 03, 2008
COLUMBUS ? Most Ohio State's football players are recruited. A few transfer in, and a few others are asked to walk-on.
And then there is Ryan Pretorius.


He snuck into the Woody Hayes Center and nosed around the Buckeyes' practice facility until he finally bumped into Jim Tressel.
"I introduced myself and said, 'I want to kick here,' '' Pretorius remembered.
The Bucks' head football coach sized up the 5-foot-9 interloper, picked up his distinct South African accent and, according to Pretorius, asked, "Oh yeah, so what do you know about football.''



Cont...
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What a great read!
 
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osugrad21;1047819; said:
DDN

Tom Archdeacon: At 28, Pretorius finally OSU kicker

By Tom Archdeacon
Staff Writer

Thursday, January 03, 2008
COLUMBUS ? Most Ohio State's football players are recruited. A few transfer in, and a few others are asked to walk-on.
And then there is Ryan Pretorius.


He snuck into the Woody Hayes Center and nosed around the Buckeyes' practice facility until he finally bumped into Jim Tressel.
"I introduced myself and said, 'I want to kick here,' '' Pretorius remembered.
The Bucks' head football coach sized up the 5-foot-9 interloper, picked up his distinct South African accent and, according to Pretorius, asked, "Oh yeah, so what do you know about football.''



Cont...
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That's really a great read. Thanks.
 
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pretoriusx-large.jpg


It was a long journey for Ryan Pretorius before landing in Columbus as the kicker for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Come Monday, the 28-year-old could just have the BCS Championship game riding on his right foot.

Pretorius' journey lands Ohio State kicker on biggest stage
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY

NEW ORLEANS ? Some of his buddies back in South Africa know what Ryan Pretorius is doing now, are aware that the onetime rugby and soccer player from Durban has moved to America and taken up a different kind of football.
Pretorius scans the inside expanse of Louisiana's Superdome, and his eyes widen.

But they can't fathom this.

"They'd just be floored. I mean, I'd be floored if I knew one of my friends was doing this," Ohio State's placekicker says from a seat off the field where he and the Buckeyes will play LSU for college football's national championship tonight. "This stadium is ridiculous. It's out of this world, this opportunity.

"I'm going to try to Facebook and e-mail them and tell them there's this game ? probably Tuesday morning at like 2 a.m. their time ? and they should turn on their televisions and see a bit of football. And they might recognize someone they know."

He spent more than five improbable years getting here.

Pretorius, at 28 the oldest player on either roster tonight, had wandered from South Africa to England to France to Spain as a rugby player. What little he knew about football was what he saw in a couple of movies, Rudy and Jerry Maguire, and browsing the internet.

His rugby career wasn't taking off. He liked the notion of "a sport where you could just kick" and was advised by fellow South African, family friend and former NFL kicker Gary Anderson to try to get into college football. Pretorius moved to Denver. He spent two years practicing in the Denver Public Schools' All-City Stadium ? getting used to the different-shaped ball, to kicking while wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. He made a video and shopped himself to some 20 major, mostly disinterested schools.

He moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Pretorius had more family friends, and finally got Ohio State to bite. He was an invited walk-on in 2004, taking out a $13,500 bank loan to pay for his first year of school.

Coaches liked enough of what they saw to tender him a scholarship the next season.

"He has a unique style ? a real, real soccer style, sometimes from a pretty hard angle," says Chad Rogosheske, an OSU graduate assistant coach who works with kickers, punters and long-snapper. "It's a roundhouse leg motion rather than a down-and-through motion. But it works well for him. He's very comfortable doing it that way."

Pretorius sat out a redshirt season, kicked off in a couple of games in 2005 and got a shot at being the Buckeyes' starter a year ago. He lost out to Aaron Pettrey, then won the job away from Pettrey before this season.

He hit 17 of 21 field goal attempts and all but one of 46 point-after tries during the regular season. "The reason he won the job was his accuracy," Rogosheske says. "Coach Tressel is probably more likely to punt if it's going to be a 50-yard field goal unless we need it to win the game. So we need a guy who's going to be accurate closer in, and that's what he's able to do."
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Pretorius' journey lands Ohio State kicker on biggest stage - USATODAY.com
 
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Site last Updated: Feb 16 2008
30 SECONDS with American football star Ryan Pretorius
Published:Feb 16, 2008

We talk to former Durbanite Ryan Pretorius, the star kicker for the Ohio State University gridiron team.

You used to play professional rugby. Which is more bruising, rugby or gridiron ?
In rugby you have no pads so it?s pretty easy to break your collarbone, etc. However, in gridiron the hits are so ferocious that guys still get concussed and paralysed. Also, in rugby you don?t have a helmet flying at your knees or naked arm carrying a ball. My teammates think rugby is such a rough sport and I go along with it (laughs), but I don?t think they realise how hard they hit in gridiron .


Did you keep tabs on last year?s Rugby World Cup in France?
No. However, I am proud of BJ Botha and Butch James, two old friends I played with and against. Their stories are very similar to mine ? guys who worked their butts off to get to where they are today!


At 28, are you the oldest player in college football?
Probably! It?s quite funny. Most of my teammates are anything from 17 to 22, with one or two guys who are 24. It?s crazy how some of my old teammates, who are in the NFL, have more than 40-million in the bank when they are just 25 or so.


We hear you struggled to get dressed for your first gridiron game.
Yeah, that?s true. There are hip pads, thigh boards, a coccyx pad and knee pads that go in your pants and are ridiculously tight. Then there are the shoulder pads. You put them into your jersey, which is also unbelievably tight, and then pull it on and buckle the pads up. To be honest, getting dressed is the hardest part of a Saturday for me.


In terms of stadium atmosphere, can you compare a college match with a big game at the Shark Tank?
The college atmosphere is second to none. Our stadium holds 105000 of the loudest, most passionate, loyal fans you will ever come across . Every game is sold out, come snow, rain or sunshine. I think next season?s tickets are already gone and the season starts in the first week of September. On the field you cannot hear a thing and the quarterbacks use sign language to get the calls from the sideline. Forget international rugby ? nothing comes remotely close to the atmosphere in Ohio Stadium. Even for our Spring Game, which is like an intra-squad scrimmage, we get close to 90000 fans and the game is televised.
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The Times - Article
 
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official.site

Read Ryan Pretorius' Chat with Fans

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior kicker [URL="https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87743&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1059342"]Ryan Pretorius[/URL] held a live online chat on OhioStateBuckeyes.com Monday to answer fans’ questions. Read a full transcript of the chat below.

ohiostatebuckeyes.com::


Ivana - Delaware:

What do you miss the most from South Africa?

Ryan Pretorius::

Probably my friends, family and the awesome outdoorsy way of life. However, I'm the happiest I've ever been living in America.

Mason:Atlanta:

When are the Buckeyes going to win another championship??

Ryan Pretorius::

This year! Write it down. We have worked harder than we ever have this offseason and are going to leave no stone unturned until we come away with a National Championship

...

Hannah:New York:

What's more physical - Big Ten football or rugby?

Ryan Pretorius::

Good question! Put it this way.........I tell my rugby mates that football is more physical and I tell my footy mates that rugby is more physical! That way I always look like I'm the tough guy! Seriously though, they are both equally as physical as the other.

...

Emily: Cincinnati:

Where has been your favorite place to live?

Ryan Pretorius::

I've lived in Zimbabwe, South Africa, England, France, Spain and the USA. However, NOTHING compares to America! I love this awesome country! God Bless the Red, White and Blue!!!!

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Dispatch

Pretorius on solid ground as kicker
Pettrey doesn't foresee getting starting job back
Friday, April 18, 2008 5:48 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
0418kicker200.jpg
DORAL CHENOWETH III | DISPATCH
"You want to build on last spring, the fall, the season. I'm just really confident out there." ? OSU kicker Ryan Pretorius




Kicker Aaron Pettrey went into Ohio State spring practices this month feeling great about his leg strength, but under no delusions. He lost the No. 1 kicking job to Ryan Pretorius before last season. Even though Pettrey had been the starting kicker in 2006, he wasn't in 2007, and so the situation is the same this spring.
"It's Ryan's job right now," Pettrey said yesterday after a kick scrimmage in Ohio Stadium. "I would have to really beat him out. With the year he had last year, it would have to be clear-cut they want me to be the guy.
"But right now it's his to lose, and he's kicking really well."



Cont...
 
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