GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Brayden Narveson might not have been the happiest person in his own family when the Green Bay Packers claimed him off waivers to make him their kicker.
The move represented a homecoming for Narveson’s wife. Shelby Narveson grew up with a family full of Packers fans in Prescott, Wisconsin, just east of the Minnesota border and about 270 miles west of Green Bay.
“She’s like, ‘I’m going to be the coolest person in my hometown,’“ Narveson said.
He went 6 of 7 on field-goal attempts with a long of 59 in a preseason audition with the Tennessee Titans, who are sticking with Nick Folk as their kicker this season. The Packers figured Narveson was a better option than incumbent Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph, who competed for the job in training camp.
Narveson praised the Titans for giving him a preseason opportunity. Even as he prepared to spend this season on Tennessee’s practice squad, Narveson said Titans officials were letting him know there was a possibility he’d get claimed.
He ended up with the Packers, to his wife’s delight. The Narvesons got married this summer in Mexico.
“When I called and told her I got claimed by the Packers, she was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’“ Narveson said. “She hung the phone up and called her parents immediately. So, she was probably more excited than I was but, obviously, very thankful for me, as well.”
Narveson will make his NFL regular-season debut Friday when the Packers open their season against the Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Although he still hasn’t attempted a field goal in an NFL game that counts, Narveson has made a positive first impression on his new team. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he’s seen enough from Narveson in two practices to feel confident in him.
“I just like his approach, his mentality,” LaFleur said. “I can’t wait to see what happens in the game.”
Green Bay represents the latest stop for the well-traveled Narveson, who spent time at four different schools during his six-year college career. He spent two seasons at Iowa State and briefly transferred to San Diego before playing three seasons at Western Kentucky. He finished up at N.C. State last year.
“People can look at me and say that, ‘Oh, what is he doing? He’s going to four schools, this, that, and the other,’“ Narveson said. “But ultimately I think it prepared me really, really well. It was like an NFL journey, you know? You go in, you compete. You go in and compete. You go in and every time I was at a new school I had to win a whole new audience over. And I had to go compete against new guys, right?
“So it just put me in a whole new frame of mind that every single day matters and every single time you step up on the field when you’re between those white lines, you’ve got be focused and you’ve got to win the job.”
Narveson said playing at N.C. State last year helped get him ready for the NFL because he faced the pressure of taking over for Christopher Dunn, who had won the Lou Groza Award a year earlier as college football’s top kicker.
He responded by going 18 of 23 on field-goal attempts last year and setting a school record with his 57-yarder against Duke.
Now he’s dealing with even more pressure as he begins his NFL career on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The Packers had one of the league’s most stable kicking situations when Mason Crosby held the job from 2007-22 and became the franchise’s career leading scorer.
Carlson struggled while trying to take over for Crosby as a rookie last year. The Packers are hoping Narveson can become more of a long-term solution.
“If somebody tells you they’re not nervous, there’s no pressure, they’re lying to you or they don’t care, in my opinion,” Narveson said. “I think there’s always pressure. Pressure’s a privilege, in my opinion. Pressure means that you’ve done the right things at the right time to show everybody how hard you’ve worked. That’s how I feel about it.”
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Green Bay Packers helmets lay on the ground during a practice session at their NFL minicamp Wednesday, June 13, 2018, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)