Jose Cortez Essay, Research Paper

You secure your helmet and jog out onto the field. You plant your foot in front of where the ball will be held for you, knowing any tiny mistake could cost your team the game and the $100,000 bonus. You take three steps back and one to the left. The ball holder signals the snap. You begin to move toward the ball as the holder grabs the ball and spins the laces away from your foot. You feel the ball thud against your foot, the ball seems to float in the air as it travels to the goal posts. The ball slips though the goal posts, you have just won the game, you are Jose Cortez of the Los Angeles Extreme.

Jose was born in San Vincente, EL Salvador on the twenty-seventh day of May 1975. At age 15 he moved to the United States of America with his mother and sister. When Jose first enrolled at Van Nuys High School he did not speak a word of English.

In 1996 he handled punts, kickoffs, and long field goal at Los Angeles Valley College. The next year he started as kicker at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. As a Junior, Jose was an All-PAC-10 selection making eleven out of nineteen field goals, with the longest being 45 yards. As a Senior he made three field goals from beyond 50 yards (50, 52, 55) all in one game.

In 1999 Jose signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns. He only played one game in the NFL, and that was with the New York Giants. Jose spent 2000 spring time training camps with the San Diego Chargers, but did not play another NFL season game. Also in the year 2000 Jose played for the Admirals in the NFLE (National Football League Europe), there he split playing time with Silvio Diliberto. In the NFLE, Jose made a total of nine field goals (tied for league lead).

In the XFL 2000 Draft, Jose was drafted in the thirty-eighth round at spot 304. He found out he was drafted when he was called by Coach Chris Allen while he was working on a roof in Corvallis, Oregon.

During the XFL Season Jose proved himself the best field goal kicker in the XFL, he started out rough but came on strong after the first couple games. In the XFL 2001 Regular Season, Jose made: all of his kicks from less than twenty yards, missed four field goal attempts out of the fifteen attempted from twenty to thirty-nine yards, and missed one out of eight from forty to forty-nine yards, and did not attempt anything from beyond fifty yards.

Jose Cortez is five-foot-eleven and weighs 205 pounds. He is currently single and resides in the peaceful town of Corvallis, Oregon.

Jose Cortez has surely proven himself in many areas and has blown past everyone s expectations. He is a great role model, and a great inspiration.