Interview with Bethany Kicker Alex Fambrough

Interview with Bethany Kicker Alex Fambrough (Showcase Commit)

Measurements: 6’5” 220 lbs.

Player Profile: http://www.bethanyswedes.com/roster/9/2/3714.php

Interview conducted by BSN Contributor Kerry Gibbs

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, Alex.  How about you introduce yourself to the network and let us know more about you both on and off the field?

My full name is Alex Wade Fambrough. I was born and raised in Tyler, Texas. It’s a mid-sized city of about 80 to 90 thousand and a great area to live. I like to go bowling and my favorite food is my grandmother’s cooking. I have a brother who is married and living in Huntersville, North Carolina. He works for Penske Racing, which is a racing organization within NASCAR. He works in the pit crew as a rear tire changer for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series for Penske Racing. My dad is a State Health Inspector of 30+ years in Texas and my mother works for Aflac in South Carolina. I originally was a baseball player and didn’t have football in school until my senior year of high school at my small private school Grace Community. After bouncing around a few other colleges and universities for baseball, I finally settled in at Bethany College in 2009. I came to the school originally to play baseball, but after the results of the first football game of the season by Bethany’s Kicker and with the blessing of my head baseball coach, I spoke to the football coaches, Jamie Cruce and Nick Taylor. I worked out for them on a Wednesday afternoon, worked out with the team the next day and started the following Saturday and scored the amount of points we won by which was eleven. I’ve started as the place kicker and kickoff off starter ever since. My motivation to play and compete is totally found in my relationship with Christ. He has blessed me beyond all measure and I’ve been nothing but blessed in my efforts as a kicker. My brother is my hero because he chased his dream and reached the pinnacle of his desires and gets to live it every day working in NASCAR.

You converted 17 field goals last season.  Talk about the mentality you took when taking and converting field goals so frequently.

This year I tried not to carry a “mentality”. In 2010 I struggled because I took to much thinking with me to the field. This year, I really just tried to focus on my teammates. If they needed me, I would go out and do my best, if I failed, I knew they had my back and my success was greatly praised by the coaches and players alike. Seventeen is quite a few, but if you look at the amount of misses I accrued over the season, I had the opportunities to perform much better and blow the rest of the nation out of the water with the 25 attempts. I had a few blocked and I can only blame one field goal miss on my holder all year which was a 57 yard attempt at Sterling which I still almost made, but it was just left. It was a dream season as a kicker to get so many attempts… I can always do better.

Talk about your punting ability and the huge leg you bring to this aspect of your game.

My big leg is all that allowed me to be a descent punter. I am not a true punter. We did quite a bit of the roll out rugby style punting. I would kick it and let it roll. The wind definitely played a factor in some of my longer kicks and especially in my shorter ones. The Kansas wind can be brutal. I punted this year because I had to. The coaches were very appreciative of me taking up the mantle of being the all purpose kicker. We had no other kickers on the depth chart, so I was alone for the most part in my efforts as the only true special teams player.

You had a long field goal of 48 yards last season and a long punt of 60 yards.  Which feat are you more proud of and why?

It’s hard to choose, mainly because I can do much better than 48. I hit a 54 last year and had the distance on a 57 yard attempt this year, but was just left due to the only bad hold of the year from my otherwise very reliable holder and our starting quarterback, Darby House. The punt was probably just a good roll after a solid kick, but sometime you’ll take whatever you can get. So if I had to choose, I would choose the field goal, because scoring points in my opinion is always more helpful than hitting a long punt, even though a good punt has its perks too.

Are you more effective as a kicker or a punter? Why?

Kicker by far! My confidence level in my kicking and kickoffs is much higher than in my punting because I’m simply better at field goals than being a consistent punter.

What do you bring to a team in terms of leadership?

My leadership is basically that of a cheerleader. I love to congratulate my teammates on a big catch or great throw or interception etc. Personally I’m much more of an actions leader rather than vocal. I never have been much of one to vocally motivate my team aside from the encouragement I try to extend to my teammates. Like my fellow All-American RB from Bethany, Theron “Junior” Allen, I just want our team to win. If that means I need to punt 8 times and kickoff a couple and have no field goals, that’s just fine, If I need to make 6 field goals like I did against Kansas Wesleyan in order to help our team win, I’ll absolutely try my best to help us win.

What does it mean to you to be named a BSN All-American?

It’s a total honor. I’m blown away. It’s a testament to the effort of my teammates and coaches. I was only able to be successful because my teammates got into my range. I have been patient and worked very hard to gather such an honor and my faith in Christ alone has been the reason for my continued desire to compete and succeed.

What do you hope to get out of the BSN Collegiate Showcase Kicking Competition?

I hope to win. I want to win. I want to be in the All-Star game representing my college, my family and most importantly my God. I truly want to pursue the lofty goal of having professional career in football. I hope that I can be successful enough to get into the all-star game and perform well in front of the scouts that will be in attendance. I’m very excited to meet all of the other athletes and kickers at this event and hope to gain some much needed experience from weekend.

• Next >