Being anonymous okay with No. 55
By DARYL K. TABOR
MANAGING EDITOR
Looking at the world upside down, Brad Hart has to launch an oblong ball 24 feet, hitting a target roughly the size of the numbers on his chest with a perfect spiral. Meantime, a sweaty, 275-pound monster crouches inches away, eager to put Hart on his back. One flinch, one slip, one slow reaction and the college sophomore has failed at his job.
As a special teams short snapper for the University of Kentucky's football team, the Crittenden County native is responsible for putting points on the board, though indirectly. His snap of the ball to the holder on field goal and extra point attempts requires split-second timing and pinpoint accuracy to give the kicker his chance at glory.
"It's kind of a no-name job," the 6-1 finance major said of hiking the ball.
If it were hockey or basketball, he'd get an assist. Baseball, you'd mark him on your scorecard. In football, you'll only hear his name if he fails.
"There's no room for error," Hart said. "There's a lot of pressure."
So far this season, No. 55 remains anonymous, making adequate snaps on 15 point-after-attempts on touchdowns and two field goal tries Last Saturday against Kent State, he jogged onto the field six times in the second half alone to make his 8-yard snaps to the holder.
Hart will need that anonymity to continue Saturday, when his team hits the national stage against in-state rival and nationally-ranked Louisville at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington. Both teams are undefeated and averaging 50-plus points per game heading into their third contest. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m., and is televised on ESPN Classic.
A red-shirt freshman, Hart won the starting special teams job his second year on the team. Five days before what could be one of the biggest games of the year, Monday evening found him studying, not a playbook, but academics. But, he'll always make time to talk football.
"We always want to beat them (Louisville) for sure," he said from Lexington. "I kind of look to that game like you want to beat Caldwell in high school."
Hart played four years on Crittenden County's high school football team, beating the rival Tigers three times over that period.
Despite having one of the toughest schedules in the nation in what is clearly the toughest division in college football, the Southeastern Conference's East Division, Hart has high hopes for the Wildcats to follow last season's bowl appearance with another. He also thinks maybe the ‘Cats can shake up a division with four Top 25 teams, including defending national champion Florida.
"We're confident we can be a factor in the division," he said.
Aside from the stiff competition in the SEC East and Saturday's rivalry against the top offense in the nation, UK faces two more Top 25 teams – No. 16 Arkansas and the team Hart believes could be the next national champ, No. 2 LSU.
"There's no doubt about it, we face a ton of great teams," he said.
At some point in the season, Hart could be called on to make another perfect snap to topple one of those great teams. And, if all goes well, you won't even hear his name mentioned.
(Editor's note: The Press will continue to follow Hart's performance with the Wildcats throughout the season. More on the team, including stats and upcoming games can be found on our weekly This Week in the SEC feature, found on Page 14.)