KICKING AROUND

Tampa Bay Buccaneer Coach Jon Gruden, either slumming or in a show of family support, went to an Arena Football League game to watch the Orlando Predators, coached by his brother, Jay.

Cornered by a television reporter, Jon was asked, “So what do you think?”

His response: “I like what that Los Angeles kicker is doing.”

Everyone, it seems, likes Remy Hamilton.

The problem for Hamilton is that few have been clamoring to give him the opportunity to earn a job in the National Football League.

Hamilton, 30, has kicked around the Arena league since 1998 and, in an environment that seems to do everything to discourage kicking field goals short of making it illegal to attempt them, he has numbers that rank among the best in the league’s 19-year history.

This season, Hamilton has 29 field goals, second on the league single-season list, to move into third among all-time leaders with 133. His 1,063 points are also third among kickers in league history.

Yet doing all of that in a league in which the goal posts are only nine feet apart, Hamilton has been unable to hook on in the NFL. He has been in and out of training camps and has worked out with a couple of teams, but hasn’t been able to gain a toehold.

“I think it is the hardest job in the world to get,” Hamilton said. “There are only 32 jobs and they don’t keep a backup. There are 118 Division I schools turning out kickers, all looking for a job, let alone all the Division II and Division III schools. You’re probably looking at 1,000 kickers competing for 32 jobs. The older I get, the more of them there are out there.”

While attempting a field goal is just short of admitting failure in the Arena League, Hamilton’s leg is a big reason the Avengers survived early-season offensive doldrums to win the Pacific Division. They face Chicago this afternoon at Staples Center in the first round of the playoffs.

Hamilton made four field goals, three in the fourth quarter, in a 46-41 victory over Georgia on Feb. 4. A week later, he made five field goals, three in a wobbly first half, in a 64-51 victory over Austin. The next week, he made three more, two in the fourth quarter, in a 71-69 victory over San Jose.

“If we had one MVP, it would be Remy,” Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss said.

But will the Avengers have Hamilton much longer?

He has been kicking at the NFL door since 1997, when he left Michigan, where he set a school record with 25 field goals as a sophomore in 1994. None was bigger than a 42-yarder that cleared the crossbar with two seconds left to give the Wolverines a 26-24 victory over third-ranked Notre Dame. The date of that game rolls off Hamilton’s tongue as if it were his telephone number.

“September 10, 1994, and to this day people come up to me after games and yell, ‘Go Blue. Great kick against Notre Dame,’ ” Hamilton said. “That kind of put myself on the map.”

Hamilton, though, would like to be remembered for more than just one swing of the leg. He was not drafted after his senior season, and spent the next year training and working as an academic advisor at the university.

“I was an All-American, set all the Michigan kicking records and thought for sure that I would get picked up,” said Hamilton, whose 63 field goals are still a Wolverine record.

“I had a small-town agent and he didn’t get my name out there much, which might have hurt me. I kind of became anti-NFL, which wasn’t the best situation. I thought, ‘If they want me, they can come calling.’ Now I know that it is an honor to kick in the NFL, a privilege.”

Hamilton joined the AFL with Grand Rapids in 1998 and quickly re-established his credentials. He has received some interest, attending the Seattle Seahawks’ training camp in 2003 and the Chicago Bears’ last season.

There have also been several tryout opportunities.

“It is really very, very tough, because you have a short time to look at a kid,” said Rusty Tillman, the Minnesota Vikings’ special teams coach. “In that short window of opportunity, you have to show what you can do. That’s why most kick around a little bit until they catch on with somebody.”

Tillman and the Vikings had Hamilton in for a tryout last season, after kickoff specialist Aaron Elling suffered a broken ankle. Tillman said that team officials “liked Remy, he had a good leg and attitude.”

Still, the Vikings decided to go with Jose Cortez, who had two years of NFL experience.

“It’s a Catch-22, people are looking for kickers with experience, but how do you get experience if you can’t get a shot?” Tillman said.

Hamilton is at an age where the clock is ticking. But he also knows he will be fine no matter what happens.

“I have a little boy who is 14 months old. My wife is going to give birth to a little girl in seven days,” Hamilton said. “I’m happy kicking in Arena [football]. I know I could kick in the NFL, and if the right opportunity comes along I’ll be happy to take it. If not, then I’ll just set all the Arena League kicking records.”