Word From The Birds Blog

There Tim Hightower was, setting up the holding tee in the middle of the practice field, and on his second attempt, he drilled a 50-yard field goal, yelling at running backs coach Curtis Modkins to pay attention.

Is Neil Rackers in danger? Is there another kicker in the Cards’ midst?

“We can’t be talking about that,” Hightower said – smiling -- as he came off the field. “That’s top secret, man.”

OK, maybe not top secret. All it took was a trip to special teams coach Kevin Spencer. “Of course, he’s in my face constantly,” Spencer said. “You should jump on that: ‘The Cardinals are searching for possibly an emergency kicker and Hightower has hit from 55 (yards) indoors.' That’s a good scoop.”

Indeed, Hightower apparently did nail a 55-yarder in Walkup Skydome the day before his 50-yarder under the glorious blue sky of the outdoor field. That 55-yarder came “with Reeboks on,” Hightower said. (Wednesday night, Hightower was at it again, kicking field goals but this time with Ben Graham holding as you can see in the video.)

“We’re just having fun after practice,” said Hightower, who did admit to playing soccer growing up and kicking for his high school team. It doesn’t hurt when people doubt what he can do, as Modkins had before his 50-yarder.

“He challenged me,” Hightower said. “People put limits on you and people have been putting limits on me my whole life. I don’t like people putting limits on me. The sky is the limit for me.”

Question: If Hightower is forced into emergency kicker action, does he have to go with the Rackers ’stache?