One kicker's season-ending pulled quad muscle is another kicker's opportunity to get back on the field in the NFL.
Nick Folk, the Jets' kicker since 2010, was injured during pregame warmups of their 2015 Week 9 game against Jacksonville. With only four days before New York's next game against Buffalo, GM Mike Maccagnan tackled the short week by hosting tryouts for four free agents, including Randy Bullock.
A fifth-round draft pick by Houston in 2012, Bullock missed his rookie year because of a groin pull. He then played two full seasons and three games into the 2015 campaign before being released by the Texans.
"That was back when they did the workout circuits. There was nobody on practice squads and so my phone started ringing pretty quickly," Bullock said. "I made my rounds with several different places: Pittsburgh, Tampa, New Orleans, and then the Jets.
"I had worked with Mike Maccagnan and thought it would be a good opportunity for me. They worked us out and I had a really strong showing. They kept me and Garrett Hartley overnight, and then they notified us the next morning. One of us went to the facility for meetings and practice, and the other went to the airport."
Being the one who threw his bag into a locker instead of handing it to a skycap, Bullock had only one day with the team before they hosted the Bills on Thursday night.
"Back then, you were either playing on an active roster or you were unemployed waiting for a phone call to hopefully earn employment. So a very quick turnaround," he said. "Flew up on Tuesday and did our workout. Made the decision Wednesday who was playing. And all of a sudden, you were thrown into a game. So it was kind of a whirlwind of emotions, but I was excited for it."
After kicking a 29-yard field goal and two extra points in the 22-17 loss to Buffalo, Bullock had a chance to catch his breath and, in a way, reconnect with Folk over the next couple of months.
"I had actually grown up doing some of the kicking camps with Nick Folk. He was associated with Chris Sailer Kicking, and I was obviously a student since he was a little bit older than me," Bullock said. "He had been put on injured reserve, and so he was around, but he was doing his rehab process and all that. So, nice guy, enjoyed being around him, but I wouldn't say we crossed paths a whole lot at that point in time."
In his fourth game with the Jets against their stadium-mate Giants, Bullock kicked a 31-yard overtime game-winner, his third field goal of the game to go along with two extra points. Two games later in Dallas, he booted a 40-yarder with 36 seconds left in regulation to help New York win, 19-16.
"For me, it was something special because I was back in Texas and had a lot of family and friends that were able to come to the game," Bullock said. "But it was more just kind of an opportunity to play again and show what you could do it in different situations. And kind of continuing to build a résumé and help a team to see what I could do to keep a career alive.
"I was there for half the season, and it was an exciting season. We finished with a 10-6 record and missed out on a wild card spot, but it was really neat. I had recently played with guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick in Houston, so it was great to have some familiar faces around, as well."
Appearing in the final eight games of the 2015 season, Bullock contributed 14 field goals and 19 extra points for 61 points. Heading into free agency, the Jets offered him an opportunity to return for the following training camp. He elected not to do so based on Folk's contract situation with the team, and instead took the field for the Giants, Steelers, and Bengals in 2016.
Playing a position which is arguably second only to quarterback as far as everyone who's watching knows how he's doing during a game, Bullock was in the league for 12 seasons with six teams – the Texans, Jets, Giants, Steelers, Bengals, and Titans – before retiring last year.
What makes him most proud of his career?
"I think the longevity. I played in several different places, but to be able to do it for 12 years and keep it alive, I think that's what makes it more impressive," Bullock said. "There's not a whole lot of in between. It's either you play for a few years and get weeded out, or you're one of the guys that gets to play maybe into double-digit years.
"That's kind of something when you're talking to people about being retired. It's like, 'Wow, you played 12 years? You played more than half your life in football once you do the numbers from middle school, high school, college, to the pros.' And you start looking at how many hours and days you actually dedicated to the game itself."
Bullock is now dedicated to his second career working as an outside sales representative for P2 Energy Services in Houston, Texas. Having earned a degree in petroleum engineering at Texas A&M, it's a field he had been interested in before having the chance to play in the NFL.
"I sell oil country tubular goods, OCTG, to exploration and production companies here in the Gulf Coast," Bullock said. "I really enjoy meeting a lot of people and catching up with people that I actually went to school with. I really enjoy the social aspect of it.
"As well as the competitive aspect of the sales side of all of it. You're working as a team to figure out pricing and market evaluations and all of that stuff. So I've enjoyed the team aspect of that, as well.
"Before I was drafted, I was going to be a drilling engineer for Noble Energy. They contacted me the day after the draft and said, 'We know you're not coming. We'll stay in touch and kind of see where we go from there.'
"I was also able to do an internship with a group, Anadarko Petroleum. I tried to keep that as an option early on, not knowing how long I would have the opportunity to play. Always have a fallback plan whenever it was time to call it quits, or I was told I could no longer do it anymore. Luckily, I was able to make the decision to walk on my own terms, and I'm thankful for that."
Support from his family, especially his four-year-old daughter, Briar, is a key factor in why Bullock decided to retire from the game when he did.
"She was part of, if not the main reason, why I decided to hang it up while I was still getting calls (from teams) at the end of my career," said Bullock, who has a fiancé, Taylor. "She was getting to an age where it was hard to say, 'Hey, I've got to go for a little bit,' and try to explain to her that I didn't know when I would be back.
"I went for a workout and had an opportunity to stay, and came back anyways. That's when it kind of hit me, 'I think I need to be home and be dad.'"
