Specialists are known to be the funniest position group in college football and Northwestern kicker Jack Olsen is no exception. He made his teammates milk a cow against their will— kind of.
By nature of their role, kickers and punters spend a lot of time on the sidelines. They see time in less than 5% of the total snaps played on Saturdays and they are not often called upon during practice.
To occupy their time, specialists are always up to something. If there are shenanigans to be had within a college football locker room, or even on the field, a kicker and/or punter is usually involved.
That was certainly the case as the Wildcats took a three-point lead over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. Olsen nailed a 45-yard field goal during the first quarter and hilarity ensued.
To celebrate his successful kick, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound kicker held up his hands. Tight end Blake Van Buren thought that Olsen was going for a fist bump. He was not!
Olsen was holding his thumbs pointed down toward the turf below. Van Buren quickly caught on to the celebration and tugged on his kicker’s thumbs as if they were udders.
Although Northwestern’s field goal unit did not seem to appreciate just how funny the gesture was, Olsen was loving it. His face was plastered with a smile from ear to ear.
Win, lose or otherwise, specialists are going to have a good time. Olsen’s udder-milking field goal handshake is the perfect example. Even if the three points didn’t matter (they did in this instance), he was not going to miss the opportunity to debut the best new celebration in college football.
Van Buren was not particularly thrilled with the thumb-milking. He might have preferred a fist bump.
Fortunately, Olsen made him milk his thumbs against his will and it was hilarious.