Tag Archives: Cristian Zendejas

03.05.21
by

Buyer’s market: Don’t forget the kicker

If Rod Carey didn’t know Cristian Zendejas’ name, he does now.

Especially if he reads his own twitter feed. Several fans, from Temple and elsewhere (including this one), sent Carey the above video of Zendejas, the son of former Philadelphia Eagles’ kicker Luis Zendejas.

It would take the Zendejas Story full circle as one of the great stories of Philadelphia sports folklore had Luis in the middle in the infamous Bounty Bowl between the Eagles and the Cowboys.

It’s now up to Carey to pull the trigger and offer a scholarship.

Yeah, we know kickers usually don’t get a full schollie but Carey should make an exception in this case.

Temple hasn’t had a reliable long-distance placekicker since the days of Austin Jones and Aaron Boumerhi. Guess what Temple did in those days? Win the AAC East both years and the overall AAC when Boomer stepped in to replace Jones after he was injured on a kickoff in the Memphis game.

Luis (left) and Cristian Zendejas

Was Boomer the reason Temple won the championship? You could make an argument that P.J. Walker, Nick Sharga, Jahad Thomas or Robby Anderson were more important on the point-scoring side of the ball but there’s no doubt in my mind had one of the post-Matt Rhule kickers taken over for Jones, the Owls would have not won the championship.

Boomer saved the Owls’ bacon (or whatever Owls eat).

In typical Carey fashion, though, he let Boomer go because Boomer had an injury. Boom went to BC and had a decent finish to his career.

Zendejas, who is still uncommitted as of 12:23 a.m. this morning, would give the Owls a reliable long-distance kicker and, in an era where a lot of games are decided by three or less points, he could be the difference between a winning and losing season. The fact that a guy with this kind of leg hasn’t been scooped up yet indicates he might be willing to go to the first school who shows him love. It’s also an illustration of what a buyer’s market this year’s portal is due to the extra year of eligibility given to all of the seniors in college football.

In this buyer’s market, given Temple’s needs and Zendejas’ stated wants and skills, it’s a perfect match.

Giving Cristian a scholarship would be a clear signal to Temple fans that Carey is starting to get serious about fixing Temple’s atrocious special teams. Going with the status quo is courting another year of disaster in that area.

Let’s hope his dad doesn’t hold a grudge against Philadelphia.

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