Imagine being Parker Romo the past two weeks. You're 27 years old, a father to 15-month-old Harmony and married four years to Lauren, who's pregnant with another daughter, Liberty, due March 6.
On Nov. 3, you're the outside services supervisor for The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. You're making your young family's modest ends meet and your bosses love you.
"Parker's among the first people to greet the members and guests … moves the carts around … manages the practice facility … helps the golfers … always smiling … brings great leadership to our team," said Eric Slack, the general manager.
But … you're also the Parker Romo who has this big dream to become an NFL kicker. You went 17-for-19 with a 57-yarder as an all-XFL first-teamer for the San Antonio Brahmas in 2023, so you know you can do this. You've also gone undrafted by NFL teams out of Virginia Tech in 2022. Then you spent the next 23 months getting signed and released by the Saints, Lions, Bears and Vikings, oh my.
"The journey has been super tough," Romo said.
And super unpredictable.
"There's a million guys like Parker out there, and the difference between the ones who will make it and the ones who won't are the six inches between the ears," said Gary Zauner, former Vikings special teams coordinator, longtime noted kicking guru, Romo tutor and director of combines for kicking specialists that are unaffiliated with the NFL but must-see events for NFL scouts.
Zauner likes what he senses between Romo's ears. He gave him a 1A rating in his 2022 college combine. This spring, Romo won Zauner's free-agent combine, booming a 64-yarder, the longest of the event, with ease as Vikings scout Michelle Mankoff took notice.
But, again, it's Nov. 3 and your phone hasn't rung for a tryout anywhere since July, when the Vikings released you before the preseason began. You're working the Sunday shift at The Blessings and getting ready to test your 9-handicap the next day, when employees get to play The Blessings for free.
You're doing what good NFL kickers do: Forget the past, focus on the next kick, even if the next kick is just another quiet thrice-a-week workout at a school in Fayetteville with former Arkansas long snapper Jordan Silver — whom you met through the community specialists daydreaming of a life in the NFL — and current Razorbacks holder Devin Bale.
"You can't overkick," Romo said. "You have to stay fresh in case someone calls."
Bingo.
Nov. 4, you're Parker Romo and your golf game is scrapped. The Vikings have called. You kind of knew they would after watching Will Reichard, the team's prized draft pick, hobble through a quad injury while missing the first two kicks of his career in the Vikings' nationally televised prime-time victory over the Colts.
Reichard was heading for injured reserve. Romo was heading for TCO Performance Center in Eagan to compete with four other guys chasing the same dream.
Earning a nickname
The competition on Nov. 5, a Tuesday off day for the Vikings: Tanner Brown, 24, who has spent time on the Rams practice squad; Andre Szmyt, 26, a former UFLer who has spent time on the Bears practice squad; Tristan Vizcaino, 28, who kicked in 10 NFL games for four teams from 2020 to '22; and Randy Bullock, 34, an 11-year NFL veteran who has kicked in 144 games with six teams, including six for the Giants last season.
Romo misses one kick but recovers nicely. That's enough to tell Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels that Romo had spent the past three-plus months staying sharp and could handle the pressure of a competition. That, essentially, is the only reason the other four were invited.
Daniels and coach Kevin O'Connell have always loved the big leg on Romo's 5-11, 175-pound body. Always loved the competitive "edginess" he brings. They just didn't know when they signed him last winter that they would draft Reichard, whom Daniels, the team's master moniker-maker and biggest WWE fan, has labeled "Stone Cold Killer."
If Reichard is Stone Cold, what is Romo? With seconds to gather his thoughts, Daniels said, "I would say Park's like 'The Undertaker.' Park looking to bury you."
The comparison is shared with Romo, who went by John Parker Romo during his first stint with the Vikings but says he prefers just Parker. He'll take "The Undertaker," if "Hat" — Daniels' nickname — says so.
"He told me what he said to you guys," Romo said with a laugh. "I don't know too much about 'The Undertaker' or the WWE or WWF or whatever. But it sounds good to me. Mostly, 'Hat' just calls me 'Park.' "
O'Connell first noticed Romo during organized team activities in the spring.
"He hit one from 58, 59 yards and I was probably standing a little too close," O'Connell said. "The competitive look on his face basically said, 'I know you saw that, now get out of the way.' I remember thinking he had an edge to him but in a good way."
That moment is a highlight in Romo's young career.
"Anytime you got somebody like that who has a big say with an NFL team, you want to be on your 'A' game," Romo said. "It was the first day I kicked in front of the team. K.O. moved me back and I just nailed it. So that was cool."
'Am I really here?'
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Romo is a Viking again. Only this time, he's heading out to his first practice as a member of the 53-man active roster. He will kick in four days at Jacksonville in his NFL debut. He has already bought the plane tickets for his wife, daughter, parents Brenda and Jimmy, and mother-in-law Melissa Little. Good, bad or ugly, he wants them there when the final gun sounds.
"Parker sent out a companywide message Tuesday thanking everybody and saying he'd be going to Minnesota," said Justin Sellin, director of golf at The Blessings. "So one Sunday, he's working for us. The next Sunday, he's working for the Vikings. He's gone temporarily, but hopefully for good."
Yes, there is a moment when it hit Romo what's coming.
"Probably Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon, it was like, 'Pinch me, I'm back, Am I'm really here?' " he said. "Fortunately, I got all that stuff out of the way before the game rolled around."
Romo was born in Peachtree City, Ga., 17 months before Gary Anderson's only miss of the Vikings' 1998 season. Anderson was 106-for-107 on field goals and PATs, but the lone miss cost the Vikings the NFC Championship Game against Romo's hometown Falcons.
"Every time I get introduced to people, they only bring up that one kick," said Zauner, the Vikings special teams coordinator that year. "Gary also was perfect on every other kick that year. One kick does not make or break a kicker. I don't believe in curses. Gary's one of the greatest kickers ever."
Most of Vikings Nation does, however, believe in curses. Fans can recite off the tops of their heads the misery kickers have causes. Anderson. Blair Walsh's 27-yard miss with 26 seconds left in a 10-9 playoff loss. Daniel Carlson missing three kicks in a tie at Green Bay and getting released two games into his career. Mike Tice calling KFAN's postgame rant line to pile on Doug Brien, who missed two extra points and a field goal in an overtime loss. Etc.
"Do I know the history?" Romo said. "Yes, but no. Yes, I've heard about it. No, I've done no research into it."
Focused on the next kick
Gameday in Jacksonville arrives. Those at The Blessings who aren't able to watch the game follow along online as Sam Darnold's three interceptions are overshadowed just enough by Romo's 4-for-4 performance from 45, 33, 34 and 29 yards.
"I'm at work checking my phone to see what the Vikings are doing," Sellin said. "Offense kind of stuttering. Darnold doesn't look wonderful, we'll put it that way. But you look again and Parker scored everything, and they win 12-7."
Alicia Hines, a controller in The Blessings' business office, tells her grandson, a huge Vikings fan, that she worked with the guy who just won the Vikings game. The grandson can't believe it.
Somewhere in Arizona, Zauner nods, knowing Romo has something to offer the NFL. He's worked the some of the all-time greats, such as Anderson, Adam Vinatieri, Sebastian Janikowski, Robbie Gould and John Carney, to name a few. He's also worked with today's up-and-comers like Dallas' Brandon Aubrey, a second-year player whose career marks from 50-plus are 19-for-20 with a 65-yarder.
"Romo has built some confidence with what he did Sunday," Zauner said. "He's got one good one in a row. Now, let's see what happens. Every day is an audition. Keep it up and someone will sign him."
Romo has put last week behind him as he heads to Tennessee for Sunday's game. But on the field in Jacksonville, he was still very much savoring the moment with his family. With Daniels. With Jaguars rookie kicker Cam Little.
"I went over to Cam because he went to Arkansas and he and I trained together every single day while he was getting ready for the draft," Romo said. "We wished each other well and now it's on to the next game. I don't know if I'm here for only four weeks or longer or whatever. It's cliché, but really it's just on to the next kick."
First things first, though.
No longer the outside services supervisor at a golf course, Romo for now is feeding his young family with the NFL rookie minimum salary. That's $795,000 that's split into 18 game-week checks.
That's $44,166.67 minus taxes that Romo saw when he opened his checking account.
"It was a pretty big number," Romo said. "A number I've never had in my account before, that's for sure."
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