Eric Frieman gave up soccer but was not able to kick his competitive habit.
So he changed balls.
It was less than a year ago that he first swung his right leg at a football on a high school field near his home in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Now, based on a tryout in early February, he is taking part in Vanderbilt's spring football workouts. And other than a glaring misstep with his equipment at his first practice — he wore shoes with an orange stripe —he has shown potential to make some lengthy kicks.
"The first field goal I ever kicked was a 50-yard field goal — that was six months ago," Frieman says. "My maximum ever is 57, but that's definitely not consistent.
"I'm really looking for accuracy at this point. Within 40, I'm looking to make 100 percent. You have to take little steps. You can't just go to the 50-yarders. Once I get the 40s [and in] 100 percent, then I can start going farther out."
The National Football League and major colleges and universities have relied on converted soccer players for decades.
In fact, the advent of the soccer-style kick in the sport dates back to the 1960s, when brothers Pete and Charlie Gogolak emigrated with their family from Hungary and ended up at a New York high school that did not have a soccer program. With no other outlet for their powerful legs, they took up football. Both eventually kicked in the NFL.
Frieman did not flee from a country in revolution, but there are similarities in his story — at least as it is to this point.
He transferred from Brandeis University (where he was a member of the soccer team and where his father had graduated) to Vanderbilt before the current academic year. That left him with no soccer option, since Vanderbilt dropped its men's program several years ago.
"It was a very, very difficult decision for him," says Mike Coven, Brandeis' soccer coach. "He was devoted to soccer. All he ever wore were different kinds of soccer shirts.
"We miss him. I was heartbroken when he left, and not just because he's a good soccer player. He's a great kid and was such an important part of our team."
Frieman made that decision even though, according to Coven, he was "penciled in to be a starter" for the coming season. He had recovered from a knee injury, which caused him to miss his freshman season, and had shown his mettle during spring games.
"What was nice was the last game I played was against Boston University, and at that point they were No. 5 in the nation," says Frieman, a midfielder. "So I guarded their best player and held him scoreless, and I thought, 'All right. My glory days are over. I can't get much better than this. So I might as well quit.' Not quit, but retire.
"I played soccer my whole life. ... I just didn't want to play anymore."
By the time he arrived on campus last fall to pursue his dual major of economics and psychology, his interest in football was such that he contacted one of the Commodores' assistant coaches who put him through a tryout.
The timing of his arrival — and sub-par kickoffs, he says — made it impossible for him to join the team for the 2009 season. He tried again earlier this semester, and this time he was invited to walk on.
"The first practice we started off with field goals, and there was an [offensive] line there," he says. "It was the first time I ever kicked with a line."
It's not that the Commodores have a pressing need at that position.
Ryan Fowler earned SEC All-Freshman honors and tied a school record with 16 field goals last fall. Another high-school kicker was signed to a national letter-of-intent in February.
Frieman simply has shown enough to warrant a longer look, which likely will happen Saturday during the program's annual Black and Gold Scrimmage at 10:30 a.m. at Vanderbilt Stadium.
"He kicks them through the uprights when we're not rushing and not timing it and all that stuff," Coach Bobby Johnson says. "So he has the ability to kick. We're just going to see how he comes in and can go under pressure.
"He kicks it fairly well, but I don't think he's on the level of Ryan Fowler right now."
No one is more aware of that fact than Frieman himself. Then again, he thinks his development as a kicker is a long way from leveling off.
"It used to be that my life revolved around soccer," he said. "When I left it, there was something missing. So I wanted to try something new.
"[Football is] more fun because it's something that I'm learning. I can only improve. ... Each day right now is so amazing in my book."
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