Michael Palardy – August 7, 2021
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Saturday, August 7, 2021
P Michael Palardy
(The first obvious question is how good does it feel to be back after the injury last year? Are you back to being your old self?) – “Yeah, I feel great. I feel great. Unfortunately, that kind of stuff happens. It was kind of a freak thing in my driveway playing basketball when everything was kind of shut down. You just have to roll with the punches.”
(Did you land wrong or did you plant wrong?) – “Yeah, I was playing around and I just stepped wrong and I fell and collapsed to the ground. At that point, I knew something was up. This is kind of one of those things that you can’t really control and last year was tough, not being able to play. It was my first major injury like that. My entire career I’ve been healthy for the most part. It was tough to sit and watch; but I got through it and I’m here now and I’m happy to be here and I feel great. My surgery went well, my recovery went really well and I feel back to being my old self.”
(Given the nature of the punting position, where sometimes you have some really good ones who have a hard time finding work for a long period of time. Was there ever that thought crossed your mind like, “Is this going to be it?”) – “Yeah, absolutely. There’s 32 of us, right? My first two and a half years I was probably the epitome of a ‘journeyman.’ I was on nine, 10 maybe 11 teams. Sometimes I lose track. (I had) 26 different workouts, so I was all over the place. I was always looking for an opportunity. I think that allowed me to really appreciate having the opportunity of being at a place like here and Carolina the previous five seasons. You grow a different appreciation for the game when that kind of stuff happens, when you struggle a little bit and that’s what I did. There were times where I questioned whether or not I’d be able to get an opportunity again because that window is very small. I wasn’t worried about it. I wasn’t stressed about it. I just knew that I had to do what I needed to do to be able to get myself ready in case that opportunity did present itself and I was ready to take advantage of it.”
(How’s your throwing arm? Have you ever thrown a pass in a game?) – “I have. I’ve thrown two. One was incomplete but we had a flag on the play. The second one was two years ago in Indianapolis. I played quarterback before I was a kicker or a punter. I played quarterback a little bit in high school and then I stopped to focus on kicking and punting. Having a red jersey, sometimes I wish I could but I’m happy with the position I chose.”
(Have you raised your hand and said, “hey, if you’re thinking about it I can do it?”) – “I’m just trying to take advantage of the opportunities when they’re called upon. I’ll leave those decisions to other people.”
(How did it come to you to get here, after an injury, after you getting back to health?) – “I think around February is when Carolina released me. I wasn’t done with my rehab at the time and a little bit after I had gotten released, my agent got a call from Mr. (Chris) Grier showing interest. I came for a visit and I think I meshed really well with what they wanted to do and the intensity that they put on special teams. There’s a lot of value to that. That’s something that I hold near and dear to my heart; coaches, head coach, Coach (Brian) Flores, Coach (Danny) Crossman, the intensity that they put on the kicking game is something that I value. It was a good fit.”
(How does that come through, the intensity of the kicking game?) – “It manifests itself in so many different ways. Coach (Danny) Crossman, Coach (Brian) Flores expect a lot out of their specialists and I expect a lot out of myself. They challenge me, I challenge me, my teammates challenge me and I want them to. Sometimes it’s verbally, sometimes they don’t even to say anything and I know what I need to do to execute my role, my job, whatever the play is. If it’s not met, I’m upset at myself. I’ve let my teammates down; I’ve let my coaches down. I think that’s what I need and I’m happy that I’m here to be able to witness it.”
(Have you heard from any of your students?) – “(Laughter) Ironically, when I was substitute teaching, Jordan Scarlett was actually in school there at St. Thomas. It was cool because he got drafted by Carolina and now he’s here and I’m here. It’s a nice full circle.”
(Do you remember him as a student?) – “Of course.”
(Give us a teacher’s report on RB Jordan Scarlett.) – “He was a good student. At St. Thomas, the student athletes are held to a very high standard. They’re always very respectful. I know Coach (George) Smith, Coach (Roger) Harriott that’s part of their mantra is that student athletes are held to a very high standard. I always appreciated that. It was like that for me when I was in school there and I think it’s still that way to this very day.”
(I noticed something that I haven’t seen before; you were kicking line drives from midfield to about the 10-yard line. I’m fascinated by it so I wanted to know where did you pick that up at, is that common, did coach tell you to do that? – “I don’t think its common, at least from what I’ve seen. For me, it’s mentally getting myself prepared to experience the elements that are around me. My train of thought is if I can put the ball on a rope at a specific spot, a specific yard line, when I go out into the open field and I have this ton of space, it allows me to be a little more comfortable hitting directionally, painting the sideline if I want to, putting it outside the red line here on the fields, trying to hit the ball so that the returner can’t catch it, hit it out of bounds. Those are the best returns and the best punts; the ones they can’t catch. That’s my train of thought. It mentally gets me prepared. It’s part of my warmup whether it’s before practice or before a game so you’ll always see that.”
