When it comes to football, kickers play a vital role in the team’s success, often becoming the hero or scapegoat based on how well they play.

Tyler Bass, a redshirt junior out of South Carolina, has been the kicker for Georgia Southern for the last couple of seasons, and he’s become as reliable as they come, but football wasn’t always in the plans for Bass. The kicker talked about the other sports he played, soccer, baseball and basketball, before settling on football.

“I started kicking in ninth grade, I was probably 15,” Bass said. “The whole reason I started kicking was my grandma, she knew I played soccer and our high school team needed someone to kick for them, and so she took me out there one day, I tried out and made the team.”

Bass has been a part of the Georgia Southern team for awhile now, and has experienced a lot of highs and lows in the blue and white, but he talked about his favorite memory (thus far) during his time here, a moment he says he didn’t even participate in.

“My redshirt freshman year,” Bass said. “I didn’t play, obviously, I redshirted, but I learned a lot throughout the whole season. My favorite memory would probably be the bowl game, just with YoungHoe Koo, Hanks, all the older guys, just watching them and learning a lot from them, and enjoying our first bowl game.”

As for off the field, Bass likes to stay outdoors and participate in the outdoors sports.

“I like to hunt, like to fish,” Bass said. “Go deer hunting up in Ohio with my uncle and cousins, that’s really fun, and always grew up fishing, I love finishing on ponds and rivers.”

Ryan Kostensky, The George-Anne Sports Reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu