By RYAN WALKER
Norwell’s football season ended in the sectional quarterfinal at home against Delta a month ago.
For some players at this level, this was the last time they’d suit up and put on the pads. A small percentage of those will move on to the collegiate ranks and continue playing.
But Knights’ kicker Austin Deleon is stuck somewhere in the middle, and he’s doing just about everything to extend it.
Deleon was a utility defensive player for Norwell’s middle school team, primarily playing outside linebacker and cornerback. During a practice in eighth grade, an assistant coach changed the trajectory of his calling in sports.
“One day, one of the coaches was talking about kicking, and I volunteered,” Deleon said.
Ever since he’s been the main guy kicking the pigskin for a dominant Norwell football program.
This year, Deleon made five field goals with distances from 51, 46, 41, 31, and 26 yards while missing some time with an injury. On kickoffs, 18 of the 21 went for touchbacks in the endzone. His PAT rate was a near-perfect 15/16.
His love for kicking began well before football, as Deleon’s first love was for soccer. His favorite teams include the world-famous FC Barcelona team in La Liga and West Ham United FC in the Premier League. But like some famous Barcelona players Lionel Messi and Neymar, Deleon could put it in the back of the net, too.
In his freshmen season, Deleon was the team leader in goals scored with 10 and in total points with 24. In his junior season, he tallied the team-high again with 11 goals and 25 points. He earned first-team all-NE8 twice while kicking for the football in the same season.
In the mix of on-field success, Deleon was struggling with cartilage damage in his knee after his freshmen and junior campaigns. Both of the injuries required surgery, and the first one allowed him to play both sports, but the second wasn’t the same luck.
“I had surgery at the end of my freshmen year on my knee, and I was told I could keep playing through that,” Deleon shared. “At the end of last year, my junior year, I had to get another surgery on my knee. The doctor I had kind of gave me the decision to keep playing both or to pick one or the other, and he said that I would be better off playing football since it wasn’t as much stress on my knee.”
Deleon took the doctor’s advice and focused strictly on football, forgoing his senior soccer season.
The choice gave him a new opportunity to extend his athletic career for his newfound love as a kicker, though it wasn’t easy to say goodbye to another sport.
“Football has kind of taken over,” Deleon said. “I’ve played soccer basically my whole life since I was three, and I had been playing it ever since. At the end of my junior year and this year, I’ve mainly just focused on football.”
Throughout this football season, Deleon has posted videos, statistics, and honors via @DeleonAustin18 on Twitter (now called X).
One of the highlights includes three videos against Delta in week two, nailing a 46-yarder with plenty of room to spare, a booming touchback on a kickoff, and a high-flying close-range field goal.
Another was a re-post, showing the award winners in the Northeast 8 as he picked up his second first-team all-NE8 honor this season.
The only thing that’s missing on his profile is a scholarship offer.
Deleon said that he has had some interest from other schools and is keeping in contact. His first visit occured over the weekend at the University of Indianapolis, where he was a guest on the sidelines for the game.
This offseason, he will be reaching out to schools to get his name on their radar while attending kicking camps.
He prefers to stay close to home if given the opportunity to play at the next level, but is open to other places in the Midwest to kick. One of his dreams is to play Divison I, and he mentioned going to a MAC school would be ideal.
Even without an official offer just yet, Deleon still has time. The NCAA’s early national signing day period for DI and DII football players opens on Dec. 20-22. The regular period opens Feb. 7 to Aug. 1 if he chooses that route.
In the meantime, Deleon will be working hard from home and getting his name out there to potential schools, hoping to get the right fit.
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