Hall of Fame: Convincing his dad to play led Kauric to CFL glory and the NFL
As far as his father was concerned, Jerry Kauric was never supposed to touch a football field.
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As far as his father was concerned, Jerry Kauric was never supposed to touch a football field.
“My dad (Tom) wouldn’t let me play football,” the 54-year-old Kauric said. “I was playing behind his back. My dad found out by reading The Windsor Star after I kicked three or four field goals (for Kennedy) in a game.”
Kauric would star for the junior Windsor AKO Fratmen and went on to play in the Canadian Football League and National Football League. Now, he is among eight people set for induction in the 37th Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame class on Friday at the Caboto Club.
“It’s a really big thing,” Kauric said of his induction.
After his dad saw the story in The Windsor Star of his son’s exploits on the football field, Kauric had a long talk with his father about the sport and he finally relented.
“I got called down by my dad the Saturday morning after that Friday game,” Kauric said. “We started talking about it and he kind of got over it.”
Kauric spent four seasons playing for the Fratmen under Mike Morencie.
“Those were good times back then,” Kauric said.
But because he played in Windsor, Kauric was property of the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders. He went to camp year after year in Ottawa, but never made the cut.
“I was in Ottawa’s training camp for four years,” Kauric said. “I couldn’t go anywhere.
“I kept begging them to release me and they would not release me.”
When his junior football eligibility was up and he did not crack the lineup, Ottawa had to release him and Kauric was immediately snapped up by the Edmonton Eskimos.
“They brought me in for a tryout like the third game of the year,” Kauric said. “Don Sutherin (Edmonton’s secondary coach at the time) had seen me because he was coaching in Ottawa when I was there. The rest is history.”
He capped his rookie season with a game-winning field goal in the 75th Grey Cup. In a game that saw five lead changes, Kauric hit the game-winning field goal from 49 yards out in the final seconds to give Edmonton a 38-36 win over the Toronto Argonauts.
“How much better could you end it?” Kauric said.
He spent three seasons with the Eskimos, who had hoped to sign him to a long-term deal, but he opted to try his luck in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
“Naturally, that’s where you want to go,” Kauric said. “I played in the show.”
The Browns won just three games in 1990 and two came on game-winning kicks by Kauric.
He went to camp with the Detroit Lions a year later and felt he would have taken Eddie Murray’s job, but broke his foot in camp.
“It was a live punt drill and a linebacker flew through and I kicked him in the knee and cracked my foot,” Kauric said. “I kept kicking after practice and went to see the trainer because my foot was swollen.”
Kauric, who now lives in North Carolina, went back to play with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1991 and also spent time with the Calgary Stampeders that season. He spent some time in camp with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams in 1992 and played with the World Football League’s Ohio Glory before retiring in 1994.
HALL OF FAME
What: 37th Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
When: Friday starting at 6 p.m.
Where: Caboto Club
Inductees: Alice Bell, Peter Cusumano, Anne Grover, Brittany Hedderson, Jerry Kauric, Todd Nadon, Joanne Rothery and Bob Weepers.
Tickets: Available at Loaring Physiotherapy, Smith Physiotherapy, Winstars Gymnastics, online at www.wecshof.org or call 519-974-7979 ext. 4672.
Prices: $85 for adults and $50 for children 12 and under. A table for 10 is available for $750.
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