This was not the first time that senior kicker Chase Gardi exceeded expectations.
Nov. 23, 2019 was a day filled with emotions and joy for Gardi, where after missing an extra point earlier in his high school’s Nassau Conference II championship game against McArthur High School at Hofstra University, the game fell on the right foot of Gardi.
After being stuffed on third down by Garden City, football coach Dave Ettinger called on the senior to attempt the 28-yard game winning field goal with 38 seconds left. Gardi put the ball right through the uprights and won the game, sending his team home with the championship. This led to Gardi being awarded Second Team All-State (NY).
“That was crazy. We played MacArthur earlier that season and we lost to them and then we played them again in the Nassau County game,” said Gardi. “We were down one with 34 seconds left. I stayed calm and confident and my emotions through the kick and after, it was definitely a special moment.”
Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
This game meant more to Gardi. The turf that Garden City played on was the same field that Gardi’s late grandfather, Joe Gardi, went 119-62-2 in 16 seasons as the Hofstra head football coach.
After high school Gardi was looking to kick at the Division I level. He received offers from schools in Division II and III, but ultimately chose Marist.
Prior to Marist, Gardi was eager to work on his game. He worked with kicker and punter specialist Brendan Cahill during his freshman year of college, and they both saw huge progress in Gardi’s confidence and kicking ability.
“He doesn’t get too high. He doesn’t get too low. He has pretty much the same demeanor when he makes a kick and when he misses.” said Cahill. “Coaches don’t like kicking and if your kicker is playing a lot somebody’s messed up and somebody’s having a bad day. You get the same Chase every single day.”
There is only so much a trainer can help someone with, as they are not the person on the field. Cahill praised Gardi on his growth when they started working together.
“You can have Justin Tucker out there coaching Chase and not even Justin Tucker is going to be able to tell Chase how his swing feels like, in the moment, pre snap, every kicker is self coached,” said Cahill. “But ultimately, it’s just swaying. I think the older you get as a kicker, the more you stop worrying so much about the technique side of things. The more you just start to trust yourself, and ideally, you just want it to become a reaction.”
Cahill praised Gardi for his ability to take criticism and be coachable, as Cahill believes that is a testament to how Gardi grew up.
“It’s almost like you need this kind of cool detachment from everything if that makes sense and he has that. So that’s coachable, but when a lot of that’s personality and parenting,” said Cahill. “Even his parents were very level headed, the coolest cucumber people. I think that helped Chase.”
Up until this season, Gardi was not seeing the field as much as the kicker in front of him was Luke Paladino, a four year starter. Paladino holds the Marist record for most field goals in a single season (11). The kicking position throughout all levels of football is about waiting your turn, and Gardi did just that, and the coaching staff took notice.
Now retired Marist football head coach Jim Parady knew that Gardi had big shoes to fill as Paladino and Dom Donahue, the place kicker for the football team last season, both graduated. Coming into the season, the Marist coaching staff was looking for consistency out of the position, and Parady believes Gardi gave them that.
“We had a big hole to fill trying to replace both Luke [Paladino] and Dom [Donahue],” said Parady. “We were looking for consistency out of the position and the ability for us to take the points when we had points available to us, and Chase came through on that.”
Marist’s kicker and punter coach Tom Kelly, who graduated from Marist in 1975, has seen many legs come in and out of this program, including All-Pro Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, who graduated Marist in 2013. Kelly praised Gardi on his perseverance and his ability to be resilient in tough times.
“What impressed me the most about Chase was that he always wanted to do better and he never complained. I’ve seen him go through injuries and not say anything,” said Kelly. “Go through tough times or have a tough day and he always comes back and wants to be better. He is very coachable and I am glad he got a chance.”
Parady praised Gardi’s ability on the field and in the classroom. Gardi had been nominated to the PFL All-Academic Team in his first three seasons as a Red Fox.
“He’s a great student athlete and he also achieves in the classroom. So he represents the program in such a positive way. He’s been on the academic honor roll all his time here,” said Parady.
Coming into the season, Gardi was eager to finally be listed as kicker one on the depth chart after three years of waiting for his opportunity. After all of the offseason training hard and being determined to start, Gardi found out he would be starting the week of the teams first game against Georgetown.
“I was excited. Obviously, my senior year I wanted to play. So against Georgetown I found out that week basically,” said Gardi. “I was excited, a little nervous, but at the same time I was ready and ready to play.”
The numbers prove that when the team called on him he was close to automatic, going 5-for-6 on field goal attempts last season for an 83% completion rate.
“When game time came and the lights were on at the brightest he came through, shining in and the results speak for themselves. When you can kick it consistently and be money at critical times it’s a great thing,” said Parady.
For some, balancing school and sports is a difficult thing. Grades are crucial to Gardi as he believes that he’s found a good balance.
“Football in the morning and classes in the afternoon at night.” said Gardi. “Sleep is important, but trying to get your work done during your free time is important.”
Gardi’s hard work translated to his game this season. His only missed field goal was a blocked kick against Valparaso in a game where Marist won in overtime.
He had a special game at Marist’s Parents Weekend, as he went 2-2 on field goals and going 4-4 on extra points against Stetson, and was awarded the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 1.
Photo courtesy: Chase Gardi
Gardi’s kicking career is a testament to patience. As he is unsure of what he wants to do past football, his coaches are sure that no matter what he does beyond his football career past Marist, that it will be done with 100 percent effort.
Edited by: Luke Sassa & Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo; Photos from Kathleen Malone- Van Dyke and Chase Gardi
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