Lin Elliott still feels bad about 1995 playoffs, but former Chiefs kicker has moved on
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Lin Elliott is happy.
As he talked from his office with the Texas Farm Bureau in his hometown of Waco, Texas, he laughed and joked, even when speaking about the most painful day of his football career.
In the 25 years since he missed three field-goal attempts in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 10-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the 1995 NFL playoffs, Elliott learned about perspective. And he realized that life goes on.
The weather conditions on January 7, 1996 were brutal, especially for kickers. Long before stadiums had heating systems under their turf, the surface of the field that day was like concrete. There was no grass left in the middle of the playing surface, just painted dirt. A game-time temperature of 11 degrees and a minus-15 windchill made doing anything other than shivering difficult.
But Elliott, who wouldn’t talk about the conditions until pressed, doesn’t blame the weather for what happened that day. He only blames himself, noting, “I didn’t try to miss.”
Colts kicker Cary Blanchard was 1-of-3 that day, with his only successful attempt coming from just 30 yards out.
“If I had gone 0-for-2 and the great Marcus Allen had broken one more tackle and scored a late touchdown, nobody would remember the field goals I missed,” he said.
Blanchard was named to the Pro Bowl the following year, while Elliott was released by the Chiefs and didn’t sign with another team. Twenty years later, Blanchard died of a heart attack at age 47.
“Things are going really well for me now,” Elliott said. “I’m healthy and happy with a beautiful family and a fulfilling job. I’ll gladly take three missed field goals and still be walking around today.”
Perspective.
The pain of losing was a “gut punch,” he said. “The guys were out there on the field fighting, giving it all they had. Then you look up and you have no timeouts, and the other team is kneeling the ball. That hurts. I knew when I missed the last kick that it was over. You’re just totally obliterated by that feeling.”
Many of his teammates tried to comfort him after the playoff game, especially after his last attempt with 42 seconds left effectively ended the Chiefs’ season.
“Absolutely there were guys coming over and patting me on the head,” he said. “I was devastated, and I should have been. All I wanted to do was win. There’s nobody who wanted to win more than I did. Just losing would make me cry. But losing and it being my fault was devastating.”
He still carries some pain from that game, but it’s more than just the guilt of not being able to perform when called upon.
“There was also plenty of venom,” he said. “There were a lot of people who wouldn’t even look at me.”
Elliott is quick to point out that, had he had a long, successful career in Kansas City, he probably would not have had the opportunity to reconnect with Joy. They met when he was 18 and she was 13.
“I knew that that wouldn’t work, but I thought that maybe in 10 years the math would look better,” he said. Lin and Joy Elliott celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary Jan. 10.
Elliott hasn’t been back to Arrowhead Stadium since that fateful day 25 years ago. He says that he still gets the “weeby-jeebies” on Jan. 7 every year.
He says Arrowhead is the best stadium he’s ever been in, and he played in a lot of stadiums. He’d love to take his family there, so they could experience the game-day atmosphere. But he’s not going back where he’s not welcome.
So he’s still a huge Chiefs fan, but from a distance. He’s also a big fan of fellow Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes. His two daughters, one a student at Tech and the other headed to Lubbock this fall, are even bigger Mahomes fans.
He says Mahomes has a chance to be one of the all-time greats.
“We didn’t know how great he was when he was at Tech,” Elliott said. “You could tell he was super-special, but we had no idea.
“You have to have the tools, the football IQ and the drive to be the best. Tom Brady has it, and Patrick has it. A lot of other people wish they had it.
“All the great ones are the same. Patrick is a leader the way Joe Montana was, but he has way more talent than Joe Montana had.”
Elliott believes Mahomes will eventually have a bad day, but he also believes he’ll dust himself off and get back at it quickly.
Given the chance to lend Mahomes some advice, Elliott would tell him to take things in stride.
In other words, be happy ... even if the only things you’re rememb
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