Jack Van Dyke wasn’t quite sure what had happened.
His coach at Neenah High School, Steve Jung, had given him a bag of footballs to use when practicing his kicking and punting during the winter months after his junior season. Van Dyke would spend hours after school shoveling off patches of Titan Stadium in Oshkosh to practice field goals, punts and kickoffs.
After a training session, Van Dyke went to his bedroom to practice his punt drops, trying to dial in the technique that leads up to the kick. He noticed at that point each ball he pulled from the bag was flat — a result of the abuse that Van Dyke’s powerful leg had put them through in a short time.