Icing the kicker — Is it good strategy or not?

They’ve got their shot at revenge. It’s Super Bowl XLII, the Seattle Seahawks are engaged in a knockdown-drag-out affair, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are lining up for the potential game-winning field goal at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Forty yards away. Three seconds to play. Seahawks leading by two points.

Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed is walking off his steps, and the linemen are crouching into position. Mike Holmgren feels helpless. All he can do is hope.

At least that’s all he’s going to do, if you believe Holmgren.

No matter the stakes, Seattle’s head coach refuses to fall under the spell of the recent trend of icing a kicker at the very last moment.

So, even if the unlikely scenario happens at Super Bowl XLII, and even if the hated Steelers are the opponent, Holmgren vows not to be that guy who shimmies up to the nearest referee with arms folded and hand to mouth, whispering “not now … not now … not now … NOW!”

That’s just not Holmgren’s style.

“I’ll tell you right now: I’m not going to do that,” the old-school coach said earlier this week when asked about the NFL’s latest coaching fad. “I don’t like it.”

By now everyone has undoubtedly seen at least one example of the new way to ice a kicker. Denver’s Mike Shanahan was the first NFL coach to do it this season, waiting until just before the ball was snapped to call a timeout against the Oakland Raiders in Week 2. The apparent game-winner from Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski’s was wiped out because the whistle had blown for Shanahan’s timeout, and Janikowski missed his next attempt.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin went on to try a similar tactic the very next week, helping beat the Cleveland Browns 26-24. Buffalo’s Dick Jauron tried the most-watched icing-the-kicker trick on Monday Night Football, but Dallas’s Nick Folk calmly hit the game-winner — twice, in fact — to beat the Bills.

Like Shanahan and Kiffin before him, Jauron saddled up to an official and waited until the ball was just about to be snapped before calling his timeout.

It’s become a growing trend at both the professional and college levels, and has some throwback coaches like Holmgren questioning the strategical ethics. It’s the football equivalent of stepping out of the batter’s box as a pitcher starts his windup.

“I don’t like the way that looks or how it is,” Holmgren said this week. “… In years past, if you wanted to freeze the kicker — which has gone on forever; that’s nothing new — (the players) would come out and start milling around, and then you’d call (the timeout). Not right when the ball is snapped.”

NFL rules have very few stipulations in terms of when a timeout can be called. It can’t be done during the course of a single play, and until three years ago it had to be done by a player on the field.

Coaches were given the option of calling timeouts from the sideline in 2004, but only recently did they start taking advantage of the rule by attempting to freeze kickers at the last possible second. In the old days, when a team wanted to ice an opposing kicker, a defensive player would often call a timeout before the players even got lined up.

Lately, they’ve tried to rattle the kicker by waiting until the last possible second.

“The coach is doing what he’s allowed to do by rule,” Seahawks kicker Josh Brown said on Thursday, “so it’s nothing you can be angry about. It’s our responsibility to be in the right frame of mind at all times.”

Brown shrugged off the significance of icing a kicker, whether it happens as the field-goal unit is taking the field or just before the ball is snapped. He said it affects some kickers, but not others.

“I think it works from time to time,” he said. “I don’t think it’s generally a very successful thing. It’s like a coach’s own trick play.”

Maybe one day the last-second icing will be as common as fouling down the stretch in a basketball game. But for now, something about it just doesn’t feel right about it.

Maybe that’s why Holmgren refuses to do it, no matter how high the stakes.

“I don’t freeze kickers as a rule,” he said. “(With) NFL kickers, I don’t think it works, all that nonsense. Go out there, kick it. Either make it or don’t make it, but let’s go.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Sports

Monroe's Halle Keller drives past Meadowdale's Payton Fleishman during a Feb. 14, 2025 3A District 1 playoff game at Meadowdale High School. (Qasim Ali / The Herald)
Last-second layup powers Monroe past Mavs

The Bearcats staged a 50-49 road upset in a district playoff clash.

Shorecrest’s Cassie Chesnut leaps in the air to block a shot by Shorewood’s Bridget Cox during the 3A district playoff game on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Shoreline, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Shorecrest girls win rubber match against Shorewood

Cassie Chesnut’s 28 points, 18 rebounds pushes the Scots to District 1 3A semifinals with 53-38 win.

Freshman leads Jackson to 4A district swim title

Syunta Lee sets two meet records as Timberwolves edge Lake Stevens.

Shorecrest wins 3A district swim title

Snohomish’s Torsten Hokanson sets two meet records and leads two winning relays.

Snohomish’s Kendall Hammer yells in celebration with teammate Snohomish’s Sienna Capelli after she makes a shot and is fouled during the game on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Prep basketball roundup for Friday, Feb. 14

Snohomish, Stanwood girls cruise into district semis.

Vote for The Herald’s Prep Athlete of the Week for Feb. 2-8

The Athlete of the Week nominees for Feb. 2-8. Voting closes at… Continue reading

Mountlake Terrace’s Svayjeet Singh leaps in the air after the basketball during the 3A district loser-out playoff game against Snohomish on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish upsets Mountlake Terrace for first playoff win in 11 years

Bryson Wheat scored 25 in Panthers’ 49-43 win to advance to the District 1 Boys 3A quarterfinals

Julio Rodríguez (left) and manager Dan Wilson (right) of the Seattle Mariners react after the game against the Oakland Athletics at T-Mobile Park on Sept. 27, 2024, in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images / Tribune News Services)
Dan Wilson begins first spring training as M’s manager

An anxious eagerness to get through the first of… Continue reading

Marysville Getchell junior Bubba Palocol reverses directions while dribbling against Arlington during a playoff matchup at Arlington High School on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, in Arlington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Prep basketball roundup for Thursday, Feb. 13

Marysville Getchell, Lakewood boys each earn district wins

Kenneth Walker III runs with against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 1, 2024. (Photo courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks)
Seahawks hire run game coach

Justin Outten added to staff as Mike Macdonald continues attempts to bolster rushing attack.

Balanced scoring attack leads Gonzaga

Zags take over second place in WCC with 88-77 win over USF.

Shorewood senior Bridget Cox (11) elevates to get a shot over Everett senior Aimelie Hovde-Girard (21) in Shorewood's 41-30 win in the opening round of the District 1 3A Girls Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 in Shoreline, Washington. (Joe Pohoryles / The Herald)
Shorewood girls basketball avoids Everett upset bid in 41-30 win

Glasser’s ‘dagger’ 3 caps second-half run, pushes No. 5 Stormrays to 3A District 1 Quarterfinals

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.