SAN JOSE — It’s not every day that you hear of a nickname like “The Cowboy Kicker.”
But this is the life Santa Teresa High senior Casey Carr has chosen. It all started when the Saints won the 2022 Central Coast Section Division IV championship over Branham.
“I fish a lot,” Car said. “My family’s more of an outdoor family. We go dirt biking here and there, we go fishing. So I wear cowboy boots to school and mostly everywhere I go.”
It was at a family party that Carr, wearing his uncle’s cowboy hat, was first dubbed the Cowboy Kicker. It stuck after Carr nailed a 32-yard field goal to help Santa Teresa to its first-ever CCS crown as a sophomore.
“Then I told my friends, and they’re like, ‘That’s actually funny. We’re going to start calling you that,’” Carr said. “Everyone just started calling me that. That’s all people call me at school.”
It helps that Carr has the goods to back his nickname up. He’s got the hat, the boots, and the leg to boot.
Serving as Santa Teresa’s kicker and punter, Carr’s highlights have included a 42-yard field goal and a 70-yard punt. He has converted a field goal from 58 yards in practice.
“It’s definitely different,” Santa Teresa coach Steve Papin said. “Most kickers are reserved or to themselves or kind of quiet and do their own thing. He’s very vocal, he’s very outspoken, he’s a leader on the team. He’s a senior. So it’s a positive for us, because he gets in and plays offense. He plays defense. He does other things than just kicker, even though that’s his way to college.”
Carr’s cowboy persona has rubbed off on his teammates too. His quarterback and holder Brenton Gaches, something of a country boy himself, has embraced Carr’s alter ego and countered with his own cowboy style.
“There’s a bunch of us,” Gaches said. “He could say that I haven’t been wearing it, but I’ve always been wearing it, so I’m not trying to copy him or nothing. But there’s been a bunch of other people that have started wearing it after him.”
With recruiting so competitive for kickers seeking a Division I opportunity, Carr’s self-made moniker stands out. He’s in communication with recruiters from multiple schools in the Pac-12, Mountain West and Big Sky, seeking an opportunity at the next level to prove the player behind the persona is no fluke.
“I definitely want to go to a four-year (university), try to get there and try to walk on,” Carr said. “(The nickname) put my name out there a lot more. I feel like it’s kind of catchy, so people remember my name.
“It’s been rough, because a lot of colleges don’t think of a kicker until late in the recruiting process. So I try to put my name out there as best I can, the most I can. When my time comes, hopefully my name’s out there enough to the point where they know who I am.”
People certainly know who Carr is at Santa Teresa. He’s convinced people across campus to embrace the cowboy aesthetic.
“Every Friday, we have this thing where coach Papin has us dress up,” said senior running back/wide receiver Jaylen Malcom. “Every home game, I always see Casey and Brenton with their cowboy boots, a button-up and a hat. I’m like, ‘You guys got to give me one of those one of these days.’
“But it’s funny knowing how that trend has passed around school. I saw some other kid who doesn’t even have cowboy attire just make up some cowboy stuff. It was crazy. Even some of the teachers. I remember my English teacher, Mr. Mandell, he had cowboy boots on and a hat. So I was like, ‘Casey, did you tell him or make him have that on?’ He was like, ‘No, he just did it and he came up to me.’ So it was nice.”
The Cowboy Kicker brand may be new to some. But for Carr, it’s a natural expression of who he is.
“I’ve always been an outdoor, country kid, but I also think that no one really knew that I was until people started calling me Cowboy Kicker,” Carr reflected. “Then they kind of realized, ‘Oh yeah, this kid really is a cowboy.’”
With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, Carr probably won’t be the only one dressed up as a cowboy on Santa Teresa’s football team.
“I’ve been trying to tell Casey to let me borrow his cowboy shoes once in a while, because this Halloween, I might just be a cowboy with him,” Malcom said.
Even Papin has gotten in on the act.
“It’s been awesome,” Papin said. “He and the family actually gave me a cowboy hat, and I’d never worn a cowboy hat in my life. So it was interesting to be able to wear a cowboy hat and experience a little bit of being a cowboy. We’ve embraced it. We’ve actually called a couple of plays cowboy because of him. We have a personnel grouping called cowboy because of him. That’s his alter ego. That’s his Superman. The guys get a kick out of it.”
