The crossbar is higher, the space between uprights about as wide as a doorway and the money less abundant in the Arena Football League.

Despite those differences, kicker Paul Edinger is happy to be working again and attempting to rebuild his career with the Power, who open their inaugural season at 8 tonight against the Philadelphia Soul at Consol Energy Center.

Edinger, 33, thinks about a future as a teacher and coach, but kicking is his first love. He has unfinished business with his unforgiving profession, especially considering the way it has treated him recently.

Edinger, a sixth-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 2000, hasn’t kicked in the NFL since 2005 with the Minnesota Vikings.

“My contract was up,” he said. “I wasn’t really cut by the Vikings. I just want to keep kicking because of the way I went out.”

Since leaving Minnesota, Edinger had two tryouts with the Atlanta Falcons, who signed Jason Elam and Matt Bryant instead. He changed agents and sent out letters to several teams with the help of his mother-in-law.

“She might as well be my agent,” he said.

Plus, he coached kickers and special teams the past two seasons at Ponte Verda (Fla.) High School, near his home in St. Augustine.

Meanwhile, he continued working out, lugging his portable uprights to an open field, attaching them to a soccer goal and kicking until his leg got tired.

“I just love it,” Edinger said. “I just think I can still make it back to the next level. I am hoping for that.”

Edinger made a major concession to NFL scouts when he eliminated his unusual corkscrew kicking style, in which he starts his approach with his shoulder pointed toward the ball.

“When I came out of college (Michigan State), there were two teams that didn’t care about the way I kicked. All the other teams said I would never be able to kick at the next level,” he said.

Then, after he left the NFL, he heard teams were not considering him for tryouts.

“They didn’t care if I could kick very well or not. They just didn’t want to be a part of it.”

For the sake of his career, he changed.

“Now, when you watch me kick, I look like every other kicker.”

Last year, Edinger used his new style with the Jacksonville Sharks of the AFL and hit 4 of 10 field-goal attempts. He also was 66 of 86 in extra points while learning to deal with uprights that are only 9 feet apart, with a 15-feet high crossbar. The numbers in the NFL are much more accommodating — 18 1/2 and 10 feet.

The extra-point misses are shocking at first glance because Edinger is one of only two NFL kickers who never missed an extra point in at least 100 attempts (164 for 164). The other is the New York Jets’ Nick Folk (168).

Edinger’s goal is to return to the NFL, and success with the AFL’s narrow uprights may open some scouts’ eyes and overshadow his subpar 75 percent career success rate on field goals.

“You have no room for error,” he said of the narrow space between uprights, “especially when you start backing away from an extra point, it just keeps getting smaller and smaller.”

• Note: Local musician Jeff Jimerson, who sings the national anthem at many Penguins home games, will do the same for the Power’s opener.

Additional Information:

Scouting report

Philadelphia Soul at Power

8 p.m. tonight, Consol Energy Center

TV/radio: NFL Network/ KDKA-FM 93.7 ‘The Fan’

Additional Information:

For kicks

Here are Paul Edinger’s field goal and extra-point statistics in the NFL and last year with the Jacksonville Sharks of he AFL:

2000(Bears): 21 of27 field goals (77.8 percent);21 of21 extra points(100 percent)

2001(Bears): 26 of31(83.9 percent);34 of34(100 percent)

2002(Bears): 22of 28(78.6 percent);29 of29 (100 percent)

2003(Bears): 26of 3672.2;27of 27 (100 percent)

2004(Bears): 15 of24(62.5 percent);22 of22 (100 percent)

2005(Vikings): 25 of34(73.5 percent);31 of31 (100 percent)

2010(Sharks): 4 of10(40.0 percent);66 of 86 (76.7 percent)

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---