Even if you’re among the most diehard Roughrider fans, you’ve probably never heard of Kaare Vedvik, even though he just might be the league’s most interesting man.
The Norwegian punter is taking over from the injured Jon Ryan, who’s been placed on the six-game injured list and head coach Craig Dickenson suspects won’t play again this year, regular season or playoffs, due to a severe ankle sprain that might even have a cracked bone in it.
Vedvik, who grew up in Norway, tells us he’s half-Nigerian and moved to the United States on a foreign exchange before ending up in Regina, could very well be the CFL’s most-travelled man.
He occupies one of the Roughriders Global roster spots, competing with Australian punter Ben Scruton this week to win a trip to Montreal and play in Saturday night’s Week 13 matchup with the Alouettes. Vedvik won the matchup, not based on leg strength but more on directional kicking.
“What makes me nervous is this will be his first game in the CFL, but he’s had other games and he’s played in pro football. So, he’s got some NFL games under his belt,” Dickenson said.
“He’s played at a high-level university. He played at Marshall and was an all-conference player at Marshall, which is good football. He’s a smart kid, he’s a good athlete and I think he’s going to do just fine. He’s going to have his bumps just like everybody but I don’t think it’s going to be too big for him.”
Vedvik has done time with no less than eight different NFL teams including a couple of pre-seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and a regular season opener with the New York Jets, where he was cut after missing a convert that was the difference in a one-point loss to the Buffalo Bills in 2019. The 27-year-old actually started as a natural field goal kicker, instead.
“When I got to college, I was mainly a field goal kicker with a soccer background.” Vedvik said.
“I played soccer my entire life then kicking field goals was always the most natural to me and that’s how I got to Marshall.”
As a member of the Baltimore Ravens, Vedvik was assaulted prior to the 2018 NFL season and ended up not playing at all that year while he recovered from his facial injuries. That was before stops with seven other NFL teams before coming north. Despite his extensive NFL travels, Vedvik isn’t selling the CFL short, at all.
“In Canada, you have a little bit more variety to the kicking game. You have a lot of different styles of kicks that can be used in game, depending on the situation you are in,” Vedvik said.
During his time in the United States, he learned all about the man he is replacing at the game in Montreal.
“I used to watch film of Jon Ryan when I was in college,” Vedvik said. “I just used to watch how Jon Ryan used to hit these bombs. I mean, like 5.4-second hang-time punts. You would wonder how in the heck he would hit those punts.”
“This is a guy who is just immensely talented. He’s proven himself as an NFL veteran and now he’s here and contributing to taking this team to the season that we’re having and everybody on the team, they respect him. He’s a leader on the team, I look at him as that person.”
Dickenson has confirmed that Vedvik could very well be the ultimate successor to Ryan who turns 40 in November.
“Maybe, yeah, we’ll see how [Vedvik] does. He’s certainly got the talent and it’s nice to have him in-house so this is kind of a dress-rehearsal for him and everybody’s playing for their jobs, honestly, every week and they all know that. But, he’ll get an opportunity and we’re going to support him and encourage him and I think he’s going to do well.”
In Vedvik’s debut, it remains to be seen if he will also replace Ryan as kicker Brett Lauther’s holder on field tries. Dickenson says that will be a game-time decision between Vedvik and backup quarterback Isaac Harker, depending on who Lauther is more comfortable with.
