Scott Norwood

Scott Norwood lives somewhere in Virginia now, his exact location a secret to all but a trusted few. He has put a "Do not disturb" sign on his life and the Buffalo Bills, his old team, are not allowed to issue his new phone number to anyone, especially reporters. He changed it three months ago, further distancing himself from the inevitable, from the question that won't go away: What happened?

Not long after he hooked that kick wide left, costing his team a shot at the Super Bowl, Billy Cundiff was thinking about something bigger than football. The Baltimore Ravens kicker had just missed a seemingly routine 32-yard attempt that could have sent the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots into overtime. In the locker room afterward, speaking to reporters, he mentioned his two kids at home. "There are some lessons I need to teach them," he said.

The Buffalo Bills signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneer kicker Steve Christie off Plan B to compete with Scott Norwood.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- New York's Lawrence Tynes has thought about kicking the winning field goal in the Super Bowl. "It's something I started dreaming about this week," he said. Not Stephen Gostkowski. "If I'm too worried about the last-second kick, what about the first three quarters?" New England's kicker said. Keep that in mind when the Patriots and Giants play today. Depending on the outcome, a late kick could make one of them as famous as Adam Vinatieri -- or as notorious as Scott Norwood.

Since Sunday, I have been thinking a lot about Scott Norwood. He kicked four field goals in the Buffalo Bills' season opener, one of them from 47 yards. In the Niagara (N.Y.) Gazette's sports pages the next day, Tom McDonough's game story was topped with a reference to a story appearing elsewhere in the same edition: "Fans think Super Bowl, (See Page 1A)." The date of that paper was Sept. 10.

Bob Oates' commentaries have always been insightful and interesting to read, as long as you don't take them too seriously. Suddenly, the Giants have a "dynasty." Sure, they didn't lose a postseason game, but if Roger Craig doesn't fumble in the last two minutes, they lose to San Francisco, and if Scott Norwood could kick a field goal under pressure, they lose to Buffalo. I don't call that a dynasty. JACK WEBER, Ventura

Chicago 14, Atlanta 13: Feely upset after missing game-winning kick. He's a real touchy Feely. Tampa Bay 25, Baltimore 0: Redman wore high-tops to honor Unitas. His play was a tribute to Dieter Brock. Carolina 31, Detroit 7: Ancient Rodney Peete has best game in 10 years; George Blanda plans comeback. Cleveland 20, Cincinnati 7: First Tupa, now Frerotte. Who is next to receive some money from Yepremian? Dallas 21, Tenn. 13: Dave Campo says "Quincy is a competitor."

Scott Norwood went from hero to goat to unemployed as the Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday they had cut the kicker, who had become the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Norwood, whose clutch kicking helped establish the Bills as an AFC power in the late 1980s, will be best remembered, however, for missing what would have been the winning field goal in the Super Bowl two seasons ago.

Tens of thousands of Buffalo Bills fans who attended a post-Super Bowl rally had something to say to place-kicker Scott Norwood, the man who failed to win the big game for them: "We love Scott! We love Scott!" The crowd interrupted master of ceremonies Kevin Keeley on Monday to tell Norwood that he was forgiven for missing a last-minute field goal that would have given the Bills a victory over the New York Giants. Norwood had tears in his eyes when Keeley yielded the podium to him.

After completing a career-high 39 passes--4 of them for touchdowns--Dan Marino made an early Christmas wish. "I wish I could play against that zone defense every week," said the Miami quarterback, who had 54 attempts and passed for 404 yards in leading the Dolphins to a come-from-behind 34-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills Sunday.

Chicago 14, Atlanta 13: Feely upset after missing game-winning kick. He's a real touchy Feely. Tampa Bay 25, Baltimore 0: Redman wore high-tops to honor Unitas. His play was a tribute to Dieter Brock. Carolina 31, Detroit 7: Ancient Rodney Peete has best game in 10 years; George Blanda plans comeback. Cleveland 20, Cincinnati 7: First Tupa, now Frerotte. Who is next to receive some money from Yepremian? Dallas 21, Tenn. 13: Dave Campo says "Quincy is a competitor."

At a strange hotel in a busy place, a small-town mother will begin her Sunday with a prayer. Please, do not let the Super Bowl come down to the rookie kicker. Please, do not let it fall to her son. "I would die, I would just die," Linda Longwell said. "If this came down to the Packers' kicker, the cameras would pan the stands and the announcer would say, 'Look, there is his mother in the aisle, unconscious.' " Linda Longwell loves her only boy, Ryan.

Scott Norwood lives somewhere in Virginia now, his exact location a secret to all but a trusted few. He has put a "Do not disturb" sign on his life and the Buffalo Bills, his old team, are not allowed to issue his new phone number to anyone, especially reporters. He changed it three months ago, further distancing himself from the inevitable, from the question that won't go away: What happened?

Scott Norwood went from hero to goat to unemployed as the Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday they had cut the kicker, who had become the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Norwood, whose clutch kicking helped establish the Bills as an AFC power in the late 1980s, will be best remembered, however, for missing what would have been the winning field goal in the Super Bowl two seasons ago.

The Buffalo Bills signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneer kicker Steve Christie off Plan B to compete with Scott Norwood.

They don't talk much about the great field goal Scott Norwood made, the 48-yard kick against Mother Nature in 1989, the one where the snow was blowing so hard into his face at Rich Stadium that Norwood stood on the field looking like Nanook of the North. "We were playing the New Orleans Saints in our stadium, with snow on the ground, in a snowstorm," Buffalo Bill teammate Steve Tasker said this week. "It was a blizzard. And he kicked a 48-yard field goal in a driving snowstorm.

At a strange hotel in a busy place, a small-town mother will begin her Sunday with a prayer. Please, do not let the Super Bowl come down to the rookie kicker. Please, do not let it fall to her son. "I would die, I would just die," Linda Longwell said. "If this came down to the Packers' kicker, the cameras would pan the stands and the announcer would say, 'Look, there is his mother in the aisle, unconscious.' " Linda Longwell loves her only boy, Ryan.

Raider vindication became a concern late in the third quarter and turned to all-out panic in the fourth, when a sleeping giant arose from the Coliseum deck to knock down another would-be AFC contender. The Buffalo Bills started slowly Sunday, like a train, but by game's end had sped to a break-neck pace and relentless momentum that would only be stopped by one of their own, Scott Norwood.

Raider vindication became a concern late in the third quarter and turned to all-out panic in the fourth, when a sleeping giant arose from the Coliseum deck to knock down another would-be AFC contender. The Buffalo Bills started slowly Sunday, like a train, but by game's end had sped to a break-neck pace and relentless momentum that would only be stopped by one of their own, Scott Norwood.

Scott Norwood, who cost the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl victory when he missed a 47-yard field goal with four seconds to play in January, almost cost the Bills a victory against the Raiders on Sunday. Norwood missed three field goals and an extra point before he finally made a 42-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Bills to a 30-27 victory over the Raiders before 85,081 at the Coliseum.