1st Place, Sports Feature Story
2022-23, Division 1, News Writing
By Aidan Oakley
The Pioneer Press
Dearborn HS
When most people think of a typical football game, they think of the quarterbacks making throws, the wide receivers snagging touchdowns, and the linebackers making key tackles. But in the big moments, win or lose, game on the line, one player has to come up clutch. One player, one position on the team, can decide under the shining stadium lights if a team will go home with a victory or a loss in certain games. DHS kicker Yousef Obeid knows this feeling all too well.
“Kickers, you’re either the hero or the villain,” Obeid said.
Earning the DHS starting kicker spot
for three years, Obeid has proved himself a reliable piece of the Pioneers’ success. The 6’0”, 175-pound senior consistently knocked his kicks through, earned KLAA kicker of the year, and even racked up the second highest receiving yards on the team as the Pioneers’ slot receiver. Obeid’s accomplishments were enough to convince Michigan State University to offer him a football scholarship, a revelation that came with much patience and diligence.
“In the beginning I thought I was never going to get noticed, cause I was like, ‘Man all these kids are so much better than me,’” Obeid said. “And then I just trusted the process.”
Obeid’s journey towards being a collegiate kicker came from humble roots. He started his football journey in eighth grade, nailing a 45 yard field goal in his first ever game for Bryant Middle School. Due to his early success, Obeid desired to pursue his kicking the most in high school. Come sophomore year, Obeid made it as the starting kicker for DHS, impressing former head coach Johnathon Powell with his spirit and determination. Current head coach Alex Grignon sees Obeid as a prepared player who is motivated on and off the field.
“He stays positive through what he’s got going on,” Grignon said. “Regardless of the results on the field, he comes back, works hard. He puts in time in the off season, takes care of his body pretty well, and it’s paying off for him.”
Obeid made it through high school putting together an extremely impressive tenure for the Pioneers, making every extra point he attempted and pushing the opponent down field with massive punts and kickoffs. But kicking doesn’t define him as a player, as Obeid was able to reel in 15 receptions for 315 yards as a wide receiver, showing his ability to succeed in multiple positions.
“Just says a lot about him,” Grignon said. “Probably could’ve played defense if we weren’t so deep as well. He’s just one of those kids that has broad athleticism, naturally gifted, but then capitalized on it with work ethic and made sure he reached his athletic potential.”
Through all his success, Obeid said that he knew that his greatest chance at going D1 was through kicking. However, it was not easy to get his name out to college coaches through DHS football, due to the limited opportunities to make significant kicks that can garner the attention of college scouts and coaches.
“We’re a pretty aggressive offense, there are probably times we could’ve used him to give us an easy three, but that’s not really how we operate,” Grignon said.
For this reason, Obeid had to turn to kicking camps as his medium to find college interest. Mainly Kornblue Kicking, a nationally recognized special teams program featuring many camps across the country. Kornblue Kicking highlights some of the nations top kickers, and Obeid was labeled a 4 1⁄2 star recruit, ranking as one of the top kickers in the nation. Here, he was able to receive special training from Kyle Brindza, former NFL kicker and kicking record-holder for Notre Dame University. Obeid feels that Brindza was a great mentor and helped him rival the competition for kicking.
“In the beginning, I was never placing top 10 at the camps, and after I started training more privately with Kyle Brindza, I got second place and started to do well,” Obeid said. “And then if I didn’t win the camp I’d be disappointed. Eventually I went from being the worst to being the best. If I didn’t win I’d go home sad.”
Brindza has worked one on one with Obeid for the past two years and noted Obeid’s improvement.
“He’s developed as a kicker in a few facets,” Brindza said. “Consistency has tremendously improved as he improves a percentage every time we’ve trained, his height of field goals have shown the power he can put into a ball as the ball continuously improves on jumping off his foot, and lastly his mindset to tune out the little things to focus on the kick.”
Brindza was able to help Obeid get in contact with important coaches and trainers that would help advance his recruitment.
“He provided me with people to connect with during quarantine to help me along the way because his camps weren’t open,” Obeid said. “And he also provided me with a lot of connections, before I would go to a camp, he reached out to coaches and said ‘Look at this kid, he’s doing really well.’ And that kind of put more of a target on me and helped me along my way.”
In the world of college recruiting, Brindza said that college coaches often rely on experienced kicking coaches at camps to determine which athletes can translate to the next level.
“Experts are running them and know the ins and outs of the craft as we have experienced it ourselves from being said athletes and coaching,” Brindza said. “A traditional football coach knows X’s and O’s, but not the art behind kicking.”
The painful reality started to set in for Obeid when no offers were being made by his senior year. Multiple colleges had shown interest, including the University of Cincinnati, Notre Dame University, Eastern Michigan University, and others. But ultimately no college made the final decision to make an offer.
“Kids I beat at camps were getting offers,” Obeid said. “So I was like ‘Man what am I doing wrong?’ And to be honest, I was just out of luck at that point. So I just started focusing on myself. It’s hard for these colleges, there’s a million people texting them.”
The pressure was only getting more intense as his back up plan was seeming like more of a realistic option, while his dream seemed to be fading away at the same rate.
“The day before, I had a talk with my dad in his room,” Obeid said. “He’s like, ‘Yousef, schools aren’t calling. You’re going to need to find a plan B. If you want to go to a big school you may have to go to a JUCO, division three, division two.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that. I’m beating these kids and they’re getting offers.’”
That would all change. Obeid would finally get the news he had worked years for around noon of Dec. 22, 2022. After getting a call from his dad to meet him at work, Obeid learned that Michigan State University had just called to offer him a scholarship.
“I was jumping up and down, I was going crazy,” Obeid said. “The second I heard it, that was my dream, to go division one. That’s every kids dream. To play in a stadium that big, especially because it’s in state, and I know the way it holds in the communities around Michigan.”
For Obeid, one of the best parts of the offer was the leaving the stress behind to prove himself to colleges.
“I’m happy I made it here,” Obeid said.
“I definitely don’t have to keep worrying about checking my twitter to see if a coach texted me. It’s just so relieving when everything’s done. All the weight went off my shoulders, I was so happy.”
Obeid officially put pen to paper and signed to MSU on Feb. 5, 2023 at Dearborn High’s signing day. At Michigan State, Obeid will be headed to a highly competitive D1 football school which is in desperate need of a new kicker. In their 2022 season, the Spartans went just 6 for 12 in field goal attempts, one of the factors that led to their disappointing 5-7 record. The addition of Obeid will bring a new hope to the special teams room for the team from East Lansing. In front of 74,866 fans at Spartan Stadium, Obeid will hope to have the opportunity to make big time kicks in the most critical of situations. A kicker’s life is never easy, but Obeid’s willpower and tenacity points towards a promising future.
“If I’m kicking at their stadium they should all be cheering for me so if anything I should have an adrenaline rush,” Obeid said. “And if they’re not cheering for me then it should motivate me harder to knock down the kick.”
NW-19. Sports Feature Story
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