Summer has been a busy time. As soon as school was out, I started heading to kicking camps at colleges. To prepare for the atmosphere, I went to the local camp at the University of Memphis first. I’ve been going to Tigers games for as long as I can remember, so it was cool to visit their practice facilities and kick for them. I did well, too, winning the field goal competition with a 50-yarder.

Next, I headed to Nashville and visited Vanderbilt’s camp, where I tied for fourth in their field-goal competition. While I was proud of my results, I realized I needed to lose my kicking block for the camps. I started kicking without one, and although my long with the block had been 56 yds, I was able to get a few in over 50. Having not done it in competition, the next weekend I drove over to Jonesboro for Arkansas State’s specialist camp. It was held in the stadium (my first time kicking on a college field), and the competition was tough. I hit a 52-yard field goal off the ground, so I was proud of my progress in transitioning from the block.

Then, I headed up the East Coast, attending (almost) back-to-back camps at Boston College, Brown, Yale, Princeton and Harvard. I’m happy with my performance at the camps, and even happier about the people I met at each school.

When I got back to Memphis, I did get some bad news. My aunt Jennifer was moving to hospice. Before she could move from the hospital to hospice care, she took a turn for the worse. My family is saying goodbye to her, and it’s a lot.

Thankfully, football practice is starting up again, so I have plenty to keep my mind busy. I’m going to Nashville this weekend for the Saturday Night Lights camp done by Coach Wilhoit, and then the Kohl’s National Invitational Scholarship Camp in Gatlinburg, TN on the 18th. Looking forward to getting some more benchmark numbers to share as I head into the season!