TCU’s ‘goofy’ kicker could be school’s best ever

It was the kind of introduction that could only happen in a place like a freshman dorm. The 6-foot-6 offensive lineman and the skinny kicker, playing piano in the lobby.

“I came downstairs from my room to go to the vending machine,” said TCU lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, “and Jaden [Oberkrom] was up there just playing the piano. I said, ‘Hey, let me jam with you.’ So I was playing the piano with him, and now every time I see him we start beat boxing.”

For Vaitai, it was his first interaction with the laid-back, “goofy” Oberkrom. But as Oberkrom enters his senior year, his reputation has grown beyond the “funny guy” persona Vaitai describes.

By most measures, Oberkrom is closing in on becoming the best kicker in school history.

In three seasons as a starter, he’s made 58 out of 75 field-goal attempts, a rate of 77.3 percent that’s fourth-best in school history. A good year could send him pass Nick Browne (78.3) and maybe Ross Evans (82.4).

A light year should at least put him past Browne for most field goals in school history. Browne made 65 from 2001-03. Oberkrom has 58. He’s also within range of Evans’ school scoring record of 407 points —he has 329 —and he holds the best extra-point percentage (99.4) in school history. His only miss was last year, when he made 76.

But while Oberkrom has piled on statistically, his career has been marked by moments as much as numbers.

“Jaden has ice in his veins, man,” running back Aaron Green said. “When Jaden steps on the field, we have all the confidence in the world.”

There was the game his freshman year against Texas Tech, when he made six field goals for a Big 12 record. He also made three field goals in the Frogs’ bowl game against Michigan State, including a 53-yarder to put TCU ahead late.

His extra-point stayed perfect in 2013, and his field goal percentage went up, though his overall production declined with TCU’s struggling offense. But he provided another moment.

With 2:13 left against Kansas State, Oberkrom made a 56-yarder to put TCU ahead by a point.

As TCU’s offense emerged as a threat last year, Oberkrom only became more of a weapon.

His 76 extra points were more than double of what he made in 2013 (37), and he became more efficient with field goals, making 22 out of 27 (81.5 percent).

He made more moments, too: Against Texas Tech, he scored 19 points by himself — three field goals (47) and 10 extra points. And his 37-yarder at West Virginia saved TCU’s season.

The Frogs’ offense had been struggling through 45-degree weather and trailed by nine points early in the fourth quarter. TCU cut the lead to 30-28 before regaining possession, driving into WVU territory and setting up a kick with the clock expiring.

Oberkrom, battling a cold, trotted on and nailed it.

“It was a special moment,” he said. “I was sick that game and the team wasn’t playing as well as we had that season. Pressure lifted off of the team shoulders for that week, and it kept us in the playoff hunt.”

It was the kind of moment Oberkrom laughed at the thought of in junior high, when a football coach spotted him playing kickball. The coach suggested he come out for the team at Arlington Martin his freshman year.

“I said, you’re joking, right? I’m from a soccer family,” Oberkrom said. “Three boys, we all play soccer. Then next thing you know, I’m working with this private instructor Scott [Blanton], and things just kind of took off from there.”

Toward the end of his junior year, Oberkrom cut a tryout video. In it, he made three kicks from 60 yards and booted a handful of kickoffs into the end zone.

His range hasn’t changed much since then. But his consistency has gotten better.

“You have to take it as your job,” he said. “If you take the top 10 [high school] kickers in the nation, probably only five are going to be stud athletes in college. And the other five just don’t have the mental capability of doing it. It takes a special breed of guys.”

He’s given thought to playing in the NFL, but he knows the chances of that for any college kicker are “crazy low.”

Besides, he and his TCU teammates have a few big months ahead of them, as the Frogs enter the season as a favorite to make the College Football Playoff. If anything, it’ll be fun. Oberkrom knows how to have fun.

“Just looking at him, he starts laughing, and then I start laughing,” Vaitai said. “We start laughing for no good reason. Just the way he carries himself. He just makes us laugh.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 12:37 PM with the headline "TCU’s ‘goofy’ kicker could be school’s best ever."