Rain, wind, distance? None of it bothers Colts K Spencer Shrader
· Yahoo Sports
PITTSBURGH — The conditions didn’t seem all that great for kicking at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday.
The remnants of Hurricane Isaias swept through the area overnight, leaving the field so sopping wet that the tarp stayed on the field deep into pregame warmups. When the game began, there was still some rain falling, leaving the surface slippery enough that players were having trouble with their footing.
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Not exactly an ideal situation for kicking.
But nothing Spencer Shrader couldn’t handle. The young Colts kicker belted five field goals in a 34-22 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, the first two field goals flying through the uprights from 57 and 56 yards, respectively, despite the sloppy field.
“Wet and a little bit of wind,” Shrader said. “A lot of kicking is taking into consideration the conditions, but not letting them get in your head too much, because you know, if you complete your routine and hit a good ball, it’s probably going to go in.”
Simplicity is the key to Shrader’s remarkable start to the season, a campaign that has already seen the 27-year-old kicker make six field goals of 50 yards or more, already tied for the fourth-most by a Colts kicker in a season, and 16 field goals overall.
Shrader’s already navigated plenty of adversity. The torn ACL and MCL that ended his 2025 campaign left him rusty when training camp began, forcing him to fall behind Blake Grupe in the first two weeks, only to come roaring back and win the starting job.
Five weeks into the regular season, Shrader now looks like one of the NFL’s best young kickers, a powerful right leg who can expand a team’s ability to score points by launching field goals from midfield with ease.
“I feel like that’s kind of always how it’s been for me,” Shrader said.
Shrader’s power was developed as a soccer player, and it’s part of the reason the Colts first identified him as a potential kicker two seasons ago.
His mental fortitude is the other reason.
No matter what’s going on around him, Shrader has an ability to simplify the job.
“It sounds crazy, but that’s as simple as it is,” Shrader said. “It’s just about hitting a good ball.”
No matter the distance.
While some kickers might want the ball inside a certain distance, lined up on the right hash or sitting in perfect conditions, Shrader’s entire goal is to take all of that into consideration, then let it fall away in the moment.
Just hit a good ball.
“I’ve worked on my mentality of not expecting a certain situation,” Shrader said. “You can’t let any of that get into your head. You have to be able to answer the call whenever you’re called, wherever the distance is.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rain, wind, distance? None of it bothers Colts K Spencer Shrader
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