Cole Tracy: The true hero that America so desperately needed
By Alex Gomez
There is not anything better in sports than a true underdog story, and with Cole Tracy, that is exactly what you get.
It is not every day that a kicker makes the news. One of the most forgotten, yet vital, positions on the field is without a doubt is either a long snapper or a kicker. In matter of fact, there is a saying among kickers that if they know your name, you have either kicked a game-winner or you missed one. In Cole Tracy’s case, he made one. One kick changed his life and maybe the lives of several others.
Cole Tracy was born in Camarillo, California, a town about 2 hours outside of Los Angeles. The city has a population of about 70,000 people, which is about 17,000 people less than the amount of people in Jordan Hare Stadium when he kicked a game winner to upset the Auburn Tigers. People might wonder, “Alright, he kicked a game winner… so what?” I will tell you what. Cole “Cool” Tracy brings a message with him that Americans need, a just what the doctor ordered of an “I can do whatever I set my mind to, never give up” attitude.
Coming out of high school, the same leg that sent a 42-yard field goal perfectly through the uprights, that leg was not strong enough. Washington State might have been his closest shot to D-1, but after they worked him out… no offer. Where some might have hung their head or felt defeated, Cole still chased his dream and went to D-II’s Assumption College.
After redshirted his first season, he went on a tear. Cole Tracy led D-II kickers in 2015 in scoring, later going on to win the Fred Mitchell award, the award for best non-D1 kicker. All of the sudden, Cole Tracy was one of the more talked about players on the “transfer market”, so to speak. Who better than an SEC powerhouse that just so happened to be looking for a kicker? Coach Orgeron landed possibly one of the biggest additions to the team, one that no one started talking about until after the Auburn game. Tiger fans might not even realized, he has already etched his name into school history before the game-winner.
The kid with no Division 1 offers, in the first game as a Tiger, under the lights, with millions of eyes on him, sent a school record tying 54 yard field goal through the uprights. A 54 yarder with that same leg that was not strong enough for big boy football. Of course, Tracy credits his coach at Assumption College, Bob Chesney, for the growth, but you have to believe Cole played just as much of a part with his nonstop effort towards getting better.
Often times in life, we see players who quit, give up, or just deem the odds to impossible. To the kids who are out there playing backyard football, thinking their dreams will never come true, just look where hard work gets you. What a feel good story to come from a kicking a ball through two post, a true instance of how one moment can change someone’s life.
But wait, it only gets better.
The story was so moving, that it made an even bigger difference. After Tiger fans started to find out about the incredible story of how Cole Tracy rose to fame, Assumption College was gifted for finding and discovering a talent like Cole Tracy. Donations started pouring in, and not just a couple of bucks, but somewhere around the number of $7,000 dollars to the program. While that is not all that much for a big-time program like LSU, it is a big difference for a program that was struggling financially. It is one of the feel good stories that make sports that greatest pastime the world has to offer.
Here is to you Cole “Cool” Tracy, for never giving up, for showing everyone that anything can happen with hard work and perseverance, and for being someone that football fans everywhere can look up to. I can’t wait to watch you kick on Sundays, and wherever you go, the Tiger faithful will go with you. Geaux Tigers!
*ps. Cole if you read this, will you consider kicking 100/100 against Georgia on Saturday night? Us Tigers sure want to win that one… and every one after!