Steven Hauschka is having the time of his life in New York City.
Seattle's kicker, who grew up in a suburb of Boston and graduated from Middlebury, has reunited with lots of high school and college friends in the Big Apple. And best of all? He's done so without getting noticed on the streets and subways of New York City.
Hauschka told Stu Woo of the Wall Street Journal that he's taken subways and PATH trains in the city, and he's done so anonymously.
"I don't get recognized there," the 28-year-old said. "I don't look like a professional athlete."
Hauschka doesn't have the background of a pro athlete either. He attended D-III Middlebury College hoping to play soccer but was cut from varsity his freshman year. The next year he switched to football and had a stellar three-year career. After graduating from Middlebury with a neuroscience degree, he spent one year playing for N.C. State. He bounced around a few NFL teams before settling with the Seahawks in 2011.
Hauschka had a strong year for the Seahawks in 2013. He made all 44 of his extra-point attempts and missed only two of his 35 field goal attempts. His 94.3 percent conversion rate was good enough for second in the league.
And, as it turned out, Hauschka's work persuading Pete Carroll not to settle for a field goal during a crucial moment of the NFC championship game led to Seattle's biggest score of the game.
