Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski about to set team longevity record

ALAMEDA — 'Let's make it short,' Sebastian Janikowski said, splitting a small gathering of reporters as if they were goal-post uprights.

It was a curious request, considering the whole reason for their loitering in front of Janikowski's locker was to talk about length — the length of his field goals, his kickoffs and, especially, his professional career.

The first time Janikowski's left cleat touches the football in Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos, he will set the Raiders franchise record for games played, punching his time card for the 241st time and moving past Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown.

Only five active NFL players have logged more games, including his current teammate Charles Woodson, his longtime holder Shane Lechler and the guy who probably concerns the Raiders most today, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. And none of them did it with one team.

It has been an amazing and unpredictable career arc for a placekicker who struggled both on and off the field during his first few years in Oakland. There were times when people might have wondered if Janikowski would live until he was 37, let alone play football that long, though former teammate Lincoln Kennedy isn't shocked to see how things have unfolded.

'Not necessarily, because I knew he had it in him,' said Kennedy, now the sideline reporter on Raiders radio broadcasts. '… You saw such a tremendously strong leg. But early in his career he had such a nonchalant approach to the profession, to the game, you never knew how far it's gonna go.'

Honestly, Janikowski's nonchalance toward his craft was the least of his worries in those early days. When the Raiders made him the fourth kicker ever drafted in the first round in 2000, no one was entirely sure he'd be allowed to stay in the United States.

At the time, Janikowski was awaiting trial on charges of trying to bribe a police officer in Tallahassee, Fla., where he had played for Florida State. Because the Polish-born kicker was here on a student visa, legal experts said a conviction could result in deportation.

This was in no way an isolated incident. Janikowski was arrested three times in college and was disciplined by the Seminoles for breaking curfew the week before the 1999 national championship game.

The Raiders took a chance, as they so often have throughout their history, and this time they are getting the last laugh.

'At the end, it pays off,' said the man affectionately known as Seabass. 'I mean, 16 years later you're looking at all the records.'

But Janikowski's troubles didn't end when the Raiders selected him. In fact, two months after the draft he was arrested again on a more nefarious charge: possession of GHB (commonly referred to as the 'date rape drug,' which is also taken recreationally) outside a bar one block from the Florida State campus.

That charge, like most of the others, didn't stick. But Janikowski was popped for DUI in October of 2002 and again for a series of misdemeanors after a drunken fight in Walnut Creek in September of 2003.

Seabass was a burly wild child who seemed unable to grow up. A lot of Raiders fans applauded his outlaw image, but teammates worried about him.

'Certainly,' Kennedy said. 'But here's the thing. Just by the nature of the kicker position, it's a very isolated position, and it's isolated personality-wise. … You never really knew what goes on inside the mind of a kicker. And I know that he was having issues with alcohol. And yes, we would try to pull him in. But the thing was, we were a very rowdy group, like most football teams. So a lot of his behavior was not unlike any other behavior, it's just that he got caught up more times than other people.'

Just as troubling to Raiders owner Al Davis, who subjected himself to considerable mockery by taking a kicker with the 17th overall pick, Janikowski was an underperformer on the field. He missed 10 field goals his rookie season. Later, in the three-year stretch from 2005 to 2007, as the floundering Raiders cycled through three head coaches, the kicker made barely more than 70 percent of his attempts. The league average during that time was 81.7 percent.

Janikowski didn't even distinguish himself on the long kicks. Davis drafted the kid so high because of his vast leg strength. But Seabass wasn't accurate on field goals of 50 yards or longer. The most notorious placekicker in the league was a mediocrity.

Janikowski says he never lost confidence.

'Every guy comes in the league, they struggle through something,' he said. 'But I felt like I was always a really good kicker.'

And then something odd happened. Starting in 2007, his ninth season, Janikowski turned a very late corner. His field-goal percentage through his first eight years was 76.8. Since then, including his 7-for-7 performance so far this season, it's 84.2.

And it took a while, but Janikowski finally became the feared long-range threat Davis had envisioned. By now he owns the NFL record for longest overtime field goal (57 yards against the Jets in 2008) and shares the mark for most 50-plus field goals in one game (three at Houston in 2011, in the first game the Raiders played after Davis' death). He shared the record for longest field goal, 63 yards at Denver in 2011, until the Broncos' Matt Prater booted a 64-yarder in 2013.

Jon Condo, Janikowski's long snapper since 2007, notes that the kicker is able to generate massive power in a confined space. Very early in his career, Janikowski converted from a three-step field-goal launch to a two-step. When he kicks off, he starts about six yards from the tee.

'That's a very short approach to the ball,' Condo said. 'But it's like getting shot out of a cannon when he goes. You see a lot of approaches by kickers where their first several steps are real slow and deliberate, just to get their timing down and everything. But he's just going.'

Janikowski's faith in his left leg is boundless. Before each game he consults with Raiders special teams coach Brad Seely, gauging how he feels along with turf and weather conditions to determine that day's maximum field-goal range.

'The best thing about Sebastian, he always thinks it's way longer than I'm gonna think,' Seely said. 'He's always good for about five to seven yards farther.'

Lane Kiffin was more of an optimist. Against the Chargers in 2008, the Raiders' then-coach had Janikowski attempt a 76-yarder at the end of the first half. 'He had made 73, 74 in practice,' Kiffin explained afterward.

Davis was not amused. He referenced the moment when he announced Kiffin's firing at a press conference two days later.

Even Janikowski's kickoffs began to go deeper at his career midpoint. He led the league in touchback percentage in 2007 and 2008 after ranking 15th in 2006.

Seely, in his first year as Raiders special teams coach, but his 27th as an NFL assistant, compares kickers to golfers. Both require a deep understanding of and feel for mechanics. The coach has been impressed with Janikowski's classroom work.

'Really, a kicker and a punter in pro football, you have to be a self-corrector,' Seely said. 'During a game, I'm watching those other 10 guys. I'm not watching him. So if they got a problem, they gotta fix it themselves. And he's one of those guys that knows his style, knows his technique and he can fix it when he has a problem.'

Janikowski, who prefers to play at about 255 pounds, has always been an avid weightlifter. He says his overall conditioning routine hasn't changed much over the years. But Condo, who joined the Raiders practice squad in 2006, has seen an evolution.

'He's definitely gotten in touch with his body more,' Condo said. 'Getting in the cool tub, doing extra massage therapy with a masseuse and stuff like that to keep his legs fresh.'

In other words, the formerly impulsive Janikowski has learned what all successful veterans athletes do, that they must take better care of their bodies as they get older. According to Condo, Janikowski also has benefited from a schedule change instituted by the previous special teams coach, Bobby April, and continued by Seely. Janikowski now kicks on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the season, and rests his leg Fridays and Saturdays.

'He comes in Sunday and he's feeling fresh as hell,' Condo said.

But the major change in Seabass' life is family. He got married in 2008. He and his wife, Lori, have twin girls, now 3.

'Chasing my kids around, that's my conditioning this time,' Janikowski said. 'I have fun, just kick footballs and the kids always go run around, kick with me. You're playing with your kids but you're actually getting some work done, too.'

Never one for outward reflection, Janikowski isn't convinced the domesticity helped his kicking. Others are. Marriage and fatherhood, they say, settled Janikowski down, gave him a more professional outlook.

'It's like there's a part of Seabass that I watch right now I don't even recognize,' Kennedy noted. 'I told him that. I said, 'Dude, you are acting so different.' And then he looked at me, he was like, 'Hey, man, I grew up. I got kids now.' And that's what did it. If there's ever a thing that will humble you, it's kids.'

'You grow into it,' Janikowski said. 'You come as a young guy, you make some mistakes, but you're growing as a man.'

There was one sour note in Janikowski's redemption story. After eight years of blissful absence from the crime blotter, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and false imprisonment in September of 2011, reportedly for holding a woman backstage at a Walnut Creek club after seeing her take photos of him. A Superior Court judge ordered Janikowski to attend 30 hours of anger management classes and perform 30 hours of community service.

Was it a relapse? A misunderstanding? Janikowski's true nature shining through? It's hard to say. But the incident didn't seem to affect his play this time. He's still the Raiders' most consistent weapon, still the guy who alters opposing defensive strategy because of the constant threat of a 60-yard field goal. And he shows no signs of falling off.

Condo, for one, is certain Janikowski will play past 40.

'I believe he's still in his prime,' the long snapper said. 'Like every week in warmups he's usually kicking 60-yarders. Or attempting them. And whether he's putting them in the uprights, he definitely has the distance. And that's pretty uncommon for a guy his age.'

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter @Skinny_Post.