Kickalicious Uses YouTube Video To Get A Tryout With The NY Jets

from the YouKick dept

The stories of how YouTube has lowered the barrier for entry into the entertainment business are becoming common enough that they're no longer the shock they once were. Justin Bieber got himself noticed on YouTube, of course. Add to his story that of Rebecca Black and Gangnam Style and we begin to see YouTube as a steady platform for musical stardom. While there are certainly examples of movie magic happening on YouTube as well, this has long been the realm of music and weird memes.

That's what makes the story of Norwegian futbol player Havard Rugland so much fun, now that his YouTube kicking video has gone viral and led to a tryout with the New York Jets football squad. The video itself is insane, nearly as insane as Rugland potentially becoming an NFL kicker when he doesn't know a thing about the game.


The events leading to an NFL tryout from that video began when Rugland's futbol team disbanded. He had a booming leg, but now he had to figure out what to do with it. Apparently the Rockettes weren't hiring, because Rugland turned instead to videos of NFL kickers, studying how they performed their craft.

Using tools not typically associated with athletic prowess — YouTube, Facebook, Skype and Gmail — Rugland parlayed a homemade video that went viral into a tryout as a kicker with the Jets last week. He might be the first professional prospect to replace college football experience with social media savvy. In the four-minute video, posted on YouTube in mid-September under the title “Kickalicious,” the left-footed Rugland pulls off some of the most amusing tricks with a football since Lucy began duping Charlie Brown. It has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
If you took the time to watch the video above and have managed to put your jaw back in place, all you really need to know about it is that the video has been independently verified as real and un-doctored. After the video went viral, a former NFL kicker in the States found it and connected with Rugland via Facebook. From there it was a simple matter of networking before Rugland was working out with American coaches. Soon after, the New York Jets came calling.
[Jets Assistant General Manager Scott] Cohen was reluctant to give details about last week’s workout but said the Jets saw enough to conclude that Rugland had a chance to play in the N.F.L. Rugland said the Jets wanted him to return for a workout in March. He added that he planned to spend the next few months in Norway practicing field goals and kickoffs (he is leaving the trick shots behind).
Rugland has also hired an agent, Jill McBride Baxter. After Rugland’s tryout with the Jets, Baxter said, the Oakland Raiders, the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles expressed interest in him.
He'll have to impress in March, but Rugland looks to have a good shot at becoming the first NFL football player resulting from a viral YouTube video.

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Filed Under: communication, football, futbol, havard rugland, kickalicious. youtube, social media


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  • icon
    BentFranklin (profile), 3 Jan 2013 @ 5:16pm

    That's great, but... the Jets? Bleh.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Nastybutler77 (profile), 3 Jan 2013 @ 5:17pm

    We'll see what the Jets new GM thinks...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Soapy Smith (profile), 3 Jan 2013 @ 5:25pm

    The band playing in the background is . . .

    Dropkick Murphys

    Seems appropriate.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Aria Company (profile), 3 Jan 2013 @ 6:04pm

    Very impressive.

    If the gig doesn't work out with the NY Jets, maybe we can get him to kick some sense into a few people, such as the MPAA, RIAA, and a few members of Congress.

    Hell, judging by the video, they'll never know what hit them.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Jan 2013 @ 8:13pm

    piracy

    He clearly is only benefiting because of the song he put in the video. The Dropkick Murphys clearly deserve 95% of any contract he gets from whatever team picks him up.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 4 Jan 2013 @ 4:03am

      Re: piracy

      The sad part is I won't be surprised if I see him involved in a copyright lawsuit. He probably already received cease and desist letters.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2013 @ 4:48am

      Re: piracy

      ROFL! I'll never buy a single fucking thing of theirs again if they do.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      I just want to use the term "puntificate", 4 Jan 2013 @ 6:48am

      Re: piracy

      I know this post is in jest, but the video should be pulled.

      If the music didn't add value, he wouldn't have had it.

      Not to over puntificate on the topic, but run a little experiment. Play the video again WITHOUT the music.

      What do you see? Not a NFL kicker for sure. Maybe Arena Football, perhaps Canadian Football -- at. best.

      You can continue to deny the value of music, but again and again it's worth is proven.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        nasch (profile), 4 Jan 2013 @ 9:19am

        Re: Re: piracy

        I know this post is in jest, but the video should be pulled.

        If the music didn't add value, he wouldn't have had it.


        Why does everything have to be a zero-sum game? I had never even heard of the Dropkick Murphys until I saw the video, and I'm sure plenty of others are the same. I would imagine they would be furious if a 1.5 million view video with their music on it got pulled. On the other hand, they could be idiots, I don't know.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        That's Just Silly, 4 Jan 2013 @ 11:11am

        Re: Re: piracy

        Actually I'm at work so I haven't had a chance yet to watch it with music but I think it's absolutely amazing and hope this guy does not get signed to the Jets (so Baltimore can have him :-) )

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        btrussell (profile), 4 Jan 2013 @ 4:13pm

        Re: Re: piracy

        I watched it without the background noise.

        Are you saying he kicks even better with the volume on?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    harbingerofdoom (profile), 3 Jan 2013 @ 8:19pm

    i cant help but think that if al davis were still around, dude woulda already been signed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    gab4moi (profile), 4 Jan 2013 @ 4:01am

    kickerstyle

    Now hold on there, Norwegian dude, surely the footwear manufacturers of the boots you are wearing in the video have a claim on your 'innovative' kicking style, there must also be a patent on 'forcefully impelling inflated, stitched pigskin oval shaped object between two vertical upright erections' and you may have 'kickstarted' a career here, but that term in itself must be subject to multiple copyrights regarding online investments in new entities!

    Let the games begin!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      NFL COPYRIGHT CZAR, 4 Jan 2013 @ 12:36pm

      Re: kickerstyle

      This kicking style is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this kicking style or of any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the kicking style without the NFL’s consent, is strictly prohibited.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael, 4 Jan 2013 @ 4:53am

    This YouTube stuff can work for a left-footed former Norwegian futbol player who can kick a field goal from more than 60 yards away, punt a ball with pinpoint accuracy, AND cut a pretty amazing video of himself doing all kinds of tricks, but it couldn't possibly work for anyone else.

    Google is ruining football now too.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2013 @ 5:02am

    Considering the nasty case of the yips that Green Bay's kicker, Mason Crosby, has had of late, it's only too bad we can't get this guy signed and on the field for this Saturday night's game against the Vikes...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    KJ (profile), 4 Jan 2013 @ 7:56am

    Football?

    Why do people keep referring to handegg as football?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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