Crosby diary: Deciding on final year at CU was easy

Mason Crosby, Special to the News

Published January 27, 2007 at midnight

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University of Colorado kicker Mason Crosby is on the clock toward history. Crosby has an opportunity to become the first kicker since 2000 to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft. His countdown to the draft has been in motion since his senior season finished in Boulder. The recent graduate, who just finished his first big step with a week at the Senior Bowl, will keep a diary for the Rocky Mountain News of the places he goes and the people he sees.

Part 1: 'My heart was still at Colorado'

I started training almost right after the season ended. I took a couple weeks off just to get my mind right, got my body right, and then started kicking again, just getting back into it.

I've been down in Houston, at a place called The Plex - a lot of guys in the league go there in the offseason, guys like Julius Peppers, Tommie Harris - just training, doing everything everybody else has been doing, but doing a lot of specific things for my kicking, too. But I've been kicking every chance I get.

Usually, I try to kick every other day, at least three times a week. But the weather has been so funky, so it's really become whenever I can get outside right now. The place does have a big indoor facility, so I get some work even when it's bad out. I can kick into a net there, so if I can't get outside, I can bash a few balls into that.

It's exciting to be going through it all right now.

I considered coming out into the draft last year, and I wanted to see where I would go. So I did all of the paperwork to look at it, all of the things I needed to do. My heart was still at Colorado, though, and it was a pretty easy decision coming back for my senior year. I graduated in December, so that was a big motivator for me to come back, too.

In the end, I just wanted to be part of the whole transition, to say I did it and, hopefully, later down the road, it will be like I was part of that beginning when Colorado got on their way back to a national championship.

That's my hope, my thoughts. But honestly, it was an easy decision when I had to go through it.

I asked the (NFL's) advisory council, and they said I probably would have graded out as a second- or third-round pick last year. That was awesome, and I was really happy about that, but it didn't go down and, hopefully, I get the same opportunities this year and maybe even a little better.

That's what (going to the Senior Bowl) was all about, then the combine, workouts - it's all pointed toward the draft. And that is exciting, but I think something would have been missing a little bit if I was going through that and had not gone back for my senior season.

It was a rough year in the win column (with the Buffaloes), but I enjoyed all the guys, enjoyed just our time we got to spend together. Just being a senior in college, being a senior on the field with the football team is just awesome.

Walking out there for the last game, the respect all the fans, everyone, showed was great. We had worked hard, been through a lot, we never quit and people seemed to appreciate that. . . .

That's really all you can ask. But I enjoyed my experiences; I'm glad I went back.

That draft was going to be there, and that can be my focus now.

And, right now, anything I can do to improve my kicking is going to help. So, if you all get a warm day there, let me know.

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