Alex Waits was making a name for himself in American football long before Lawrence Tynes.

Like Tynes - who went on to become the first Scot to win a Super Bowl ring (with New York Giants in 2008) - Waits was born in Scotland and left at an early age.

And like Greenock-born Tynes, it was a solid grounding in soccer that led to him eventually getting his chance in the NFL - and achieving the American sporting dream.

If his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks was brief, Waits is one of only two Scots to have played at the top level of the game in the last 30 years.

Glasgow-born Waits moved to Texas at the age of five and grew up in Plano, 25 miles north of Dallas.

After playing soccer, he was recruited to the American football programme as a punter.

"Plano has a rich history of great football teams, state champions and putting kids into college and professional football," Waits, 42, explains.

"If you've seen the movie or read the book "Friday Night Lights", Plano could easily replace Odesa Permian as the setting.

"During my years in Plano, there were two high schools - Plano High School and Plano East High School.

"Plano High has been around since the start of the city and had a rich tradition of winning state championships.

"I attended Plano East which was a new school only about five years old when I was a junior.

"Despite being the newer high school, we had a great deal of success on the field. During my senior year, we were able to beat Plano for the first time in seven attempts. We went on to the play-offs and eventually lost in the third round."

Waits was offered scholarships from three universities in Texas and chose the University of Texas due to the rich history of the school and its academic standing.

He had hopes of playing not only as a punter but in another position but a shoulder injury from a motorcycle accident restricted his options.

Waits was happy just to concentrate on his punting duties when he saw the level of competition ("everyone on the field was fast, strong and fierce").

The University of Texas - the Longhorns - played in front of 85,000 fans at big games and Waits grew in stature with every season.

"I played my true freshman year at Texas and made the Freshman All American Team," Waits recalls.

"A lot of me receiving that award had to do with our team not being very good and me having to punt the football a lot.

"However, by my senior year in college - 1990 - we were a very good team. We played in the 1991 Cotton Bowl but unfortunately ran inot a much more talented team, the University of Miami Hurricanes, who had nine players drafted into the NFL from the 1991 team.

"Our team that year was successful due to our commitment to change our habits and focus our efforts. We really gelled as a unit and worked extremely hard to play as one.

"I was named one of four team captains at the end of the year which was one of the greatest honours a player can receive."

He was undrafted in 1991 but he signed as a free agent for the Seahawks where he played in three pre-season games only to be cut on the eve of the regular season as the team chose to go with a veteran player.

But he was signed after the player was hurt and played in three games before being cut again.

"My contract was for $65,000 a year which was a great sum of money for a 22 year-old in 1991," he continues.

"In the NFL, you're paid once a week during the 16-week schedule so each week you receive a sixteenth of your salary."

Waits did not return to the Seahawks but the following year he signed for Miami Dolphins: "I was told by the team that I would play until Reggie Roby came back from a ruptured Achilles heel.

"Unfortunately, Reggie made it back from his injury in record time and only played in one pre-season game.

"However, it was a great honour to know Reggie and spend time with him. He was a hero of mine growing up and considered one of the greatest punters ever to play the game. Sadly, Reggie passed away in 2005 of a heart ailment at the age of 43.

"The following year I started to work full-time but continued to keep in shape just in case the phone rang.

"It did one time with a call from the Cowboys for a try-out. Unfortunately, I stunk it up and they decided to sign another player. There is a saying in the NFL that the acronym NFL stands for "Not For Long"!

RM

© Copyright In The Winning Zone, MMXI, All Rights Reserved