Nebraska kicker hopes to make leap to NFL

 Alex Henery wasn't a finalist for the Lou Groza Award or the Ray Guy Award, but the Nebraska player was one of the most accomplished specialists in NCAA history.
Henery averaged 42.2 yards on 147 career punts, and he made 68-of-76 career field-goal attempts -- a record 89.5 percent -- including 26-of-33 from 40-plus yards. He missed only one field-goal attempt from inside 50 yards.
He is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history, with his mark bettering the 87.8 percent of Florida's Bobby Raymond. No one ever has been better inside 40 yards, as Henery topped the previous record of 97.0 percent that Raymond held, or from 40-plus as Henery topped the 72.1 percentage that Georgia's Billy Bennet had.
That's why Henery will enter the NFL as a placekicker and likely as a highly drafted placekicker.
"It's tough to get drafted as a kicker, so I'll be happy if I get drafted," Henery said.
Henery kicked a lot of big field goals in his career. He had a 52-yarder against Texas in the Big 12 title game during the 2009 season, and nearly won the game with a 42-yarder with 1:44 left. He followed that with four field goals, including a 50-yarder and two others more than 40 yards, in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona. A year earlier, in the Gator Bowl, he made all four attempts to give the Huskers a 26-21 victory over Clemson.
But Henery's favorite kick was his signature field goal -- a 57-yarder in the final minutes against Colorado in 2008. It followed kicks of 35, 27 and 37 yards earlier in the game. It was then that Kris Brown, a Southlake Carroll graduate, predicted that Henery would pass Brown's career scoring mark at Nebraska.
"[The 57-yard kick] was the school record," said Henery, whose 397 points also are a school record. "That was the big one everyone talks about."
Henery has made a 64-yarder indoors and once hit a 65-yarder in pregame warm-ups. His leg strength combined with his accuracy separate Henery from kickers in this draft or in recent drafts.
"I make sure I'm extra focused [on every kick]," Henery said. "I'm a low-key guy, and I don't build up a situation over others. Whether it's a 57-yarder or an extra point, I have the same approach."
Henery, an all-state punter from Omaha who went to Nebraska as a walk-on, doesn't anticipate the NFL being any different.
"It's still kicking, whether it's a high school field or the NFL," he said.