Casey Legg wasn’t supposed to be here. The fifth-year senior did not kick in high school, but through preparation and belief, he now finds himself on the verge of the biggest season of his life.
West Virginia University is meant for kids like Casey Legg. Legg hails from Charleston, West Virginia, the capital city of the mountain state. Last season, Legg was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist — an award given to the best kicker in the country. He missed just four field goals all season, while knocking down all of his extra points.
“From not playing to high school football to being able to start and play and find some success. I don’t think about it on the field while I’m kicking. I try to put performance and all of that out my mind. But I do enjoy it and I’m very thankful for it, kind of outside the field,” Legg said.
Throughout his life, Legg had never given much thought to football. A soccer player growing up, Legg only kicked a football because an opposing fan at one of his soccer matches recommended it to him.
“An opposing teams’ parent or grandparent asked my mom if I ever kicked footballs. And she said ‘nah he’s never kicked,’” Legg said.
About a week later, Legg decided to give it a try. Legg said he went to Dicks Sporting Goods to buy footballs, and still remembers that October day in 2017 like it was yesterday.
“I really don’t think I would have ever tried it if that parent wouldn’t have asked my mom that,” Legg added.
That day in October was a memorable one. Legg went to the football field at the University of Charleston and hoped for the best. He has loved kicking footballs ever since.
“It was a Wednesday in October of 2017,” Legg said. “I remember kicking at Laidley Field and I loved it. Loved it, kicked well, and that was probably out of complete beginner’s luck because I had no idea what I was doing. I just looked at the ball and kicked it. I remember that very clearly, that I loved it and wanted to kick footballs.
From that day forward, Legg has had focused on kicking footballs. Legg said even the first time he kicked a field goal in a game, he still feels that same amount of pressure.
“I almost blacked out,” Legg said of his first field goal in game against Baylor in 2019. “I remember that first field goal roughly. It was almost a black out moment where you don’t remember much.”
Legg says he has been playing catch up with many other kickers who have been kicking since they were younger, but it does not impact the way he does his job.
“I do think it’s been catch up for me. Ever since I got here, it’s almost always been about making kicks. I felt that pressure my true freshman year and I feel that pressure today of I’m here to make kicks. So whatever form I have to use to make kicks, I’m going to use that form,” Legg said.
As Legg has moved forward with his career, he has developed his own routine through some guidance along the way. Legg says he tries to deal with the mental aspect of the game more than anything, because he knows how pressurized his position is.
“It is the same every time, in practice, in games,” Legg said of his mindset when kicking. “My first objective is to deal with the pressure. And there’s real pressure and I don’t want to ignore that about kicking. Games are won and lost by kicking and that brings pressure with it. And I deal with that through faith and prayer.”
As for when Legg is on the field, he says he has three things he tries to do — stand tall, stay smooth, and swing to the target.
“Every time I take my steps back, I’ll deal with that pressure and then I’ll remind myself of the three main things with my kick which is stand tall, stay smooth, and swing to the target,” Legg said. “When I’m kicking well, those are the things that I’m doing.”
As for the rivalry against Pitt, Legg is very familiar. In the infamous 2007 game in which the Mountaineers lost 13-9, Legg remembers being at that game.
“I was a seven-year-old and it’s honestly still vivid to me. I remember leaving that game with my family and people throwing rocks at our car. I remember how emotional people were about it and I was seven and I remember that,” Legg said. “That’s what I’m coming into [the Backyard Brawl] with. Kind of that remembrance of how important it is to the people of West Virginia.”
Whether Legg ends up kicking professionally after this season or not, at the end of the day, he is going to remain thankful for how far he has come.
“I’m thankful for how it’s worked out, but looking back I think even in ninth grade I would have said ‘you know what I’m going to kick some footballs and see where this could go.’”
