By Greg Bates
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON – Only 10 minutes after day three of the NFL Draft wrapped up, Emmit Carpenter’s phone rang.
Carpenter has quite a few contacts on his phone from NFL teams, but he didn’t recognize the number coming through.
He answered it to hear the voice of Chicago Bears special teams’ coordinator Chris Tabor.
“He said they really liked me, and they liked what they saw when they came to work me out,” said Carpenter. “They wanted me to come down to their rookie minicamp and get a chance to compete and show them what I can do.”
Carpenter spoke with his agent and it was determined the Bears were an ideal landing spot.
The Ashwaubenon and University of Minnesota alumnus was going to get his shot at making an NFL roster.
“Chicago is a great football town,” Carpenter said. “The people there are really passionate about football and the Bears and it’s a great market to land in.”
Playing in the NFL has always been a dream for Carpenter, who left Minnesota as one of the best, if not the best placekicker in school history.
He finished his time with the Gophers 53-for-67 (79.1 percent) on field goals, which is the highest conversion percentage in Minnesota history.
Carpenter was 21-for-28 from beyond 40 yards and was 117-for-118 on extra points.
His 276 points rank him second all-time at the school.
“It means everything,” said Carpenter about playing in the NFL. “It’s exciting to think back to being a little kid and dreaming of playing football. Every little kid dreams of getting a chance to play in the NFL. I know nothing is guaranteed for me, but this is another step closer and another chance to keep earning the right to keep kicking.”
The 2014 Ashwaubenon graduate grew up in the shadows of Lambeau Field and of course, was a big Green Bay Packers fan.
For him to get a tryout with the Packers’ biggest rival is a little ironic.
Carpenter is just thankful for the opportunity to show what he can do on the field.
“Once you get past the college level, and if you’re lucky enough to get a chance in the pros, really at any sport professionally, you really can’t have any allegiances while you’re still playing,” Carpenter said. “At the end of the day, it is your job, and you have to be truly professional about it. Any loyalties or fandom I have for the Green Bay Packers can be set aside until football is done for me. At that point in time, I can go back to being a big-time Packers fan.”
Carpenter went into the draft knowing he had a shot at getting selected, most likely in the seventh round.
When Utah’s Matt Gay and Oklahoma’s Austin Seibert were both picked in the fifth round, Carpenter thought he might hear his name called since he was a top-seven kicker in the draft.
However, the sixth and seventh rounds passed, and Carpenter was still on the board.
Becoming an undrafted free agent wasn’t the worst scenario. That gave him the choice to sign with what team came calling.
The Bears showed plenty of interest in Carpenter the previous couple of months when Tabor attended Minnesota’s Pro Day March 27.
Tabor was Carpenter’s holder that day and had him attempt some specific kicks at the workout.
Carpenter is confident he landed in a good situation in Chicago where the Bears have been in search of a reliable kicker since veteran Robbie Gould was released prior to the 2016 season.
Last season, Cody Parkey missed a field goal in the playoffs as the Bears were upset by the Philadelphia Eagles. In March, Parkey was released.
Now, the Bears are without a go-to kicker.
Since Parkey left the team, Chicago has added three kickers to its roster.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Carpenter is one of five kickers who will compete at the rookie minicamp, which will run May 3-5.
The 23-year-old knows the competition will be stiff – with possibly eight kickers vying for one job – and he needs to perform at a high level.
“What I can’t do is miss too many field goals,” said Carpenter, who will fly to Chicago most likely on Thursday. “You have to show up there every day. You can’t afford to not be at your best every day and every kick. That’s the nature of the position, especially when you’re competing against other guys that are qualified and super talented.”
Whichever kicker does the best at the rookie minicamp will be offered a contract through the summer and get a shot to compete at training camp for the starting job.
“At the end of the day, there are two things on the list as a kicker you want to check off on this process,” Carpenter added. “The first is no matter what happens, you want to get a chance to kick somewhere. That’s always the first thing they say as a kicker – you’re not ever guaranteed a draft spot or anything like that, really just getting another opportunity to get on the field and kick and earning those opportunities. If you’re fortunate enough to get into a place where there’s a legitimate chance of winning the job, a wide-open competition, that’s the next huge thing on the list.”