Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding is better than your average specialist at trash talk

Jayden Fielding is in his second year at Ohio State. Last season, he handled kickoff duties for the Buckeyes. In 2023, after beating out Southern California transfer Parker Lewis, he also took over as the team's field goal kicker.

All of Fielding's three field goal attempts thus far came in the season-opener against Indiana, with a long of 40 yards. He was good on that kick as well as two from 22 yards out. He has also converted on 16 PATs.

Fielding, who says he has made 75-yard kicks in practice, joined OSU as a walk-on from IMG Academy.

As you can imagine, given the high-pressure nature of his job, Fielding has to maintain an incredible sense of self-confidence. So he has some pretty good self-care advice.

For that and more, read on.

Get to know Ohio State football kicker Jayden Fielding

If you were a professional wrestler, what would your stage name be?

Oh. That's a hard one. I've never thought about that one. Oh, my god.

Which is a shame, because I think you'd be great coming off the top rope.

Probably, yeah. I want to be like Stone Cold Steve Austin, so I'd probably go Stone Cold. Yeah. Just Stone Cold.

Would you be a hero or heel?

Hero.

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You went to IMG in Florida. What do you feel are the differences between there and here?

I actually find people in Ohio a lot nicer, more polite. I feel like that's because a lot of people from the New York area, maybe, or northerners – true northerners – flock down to Florida in the summertime. I actually find the people of Ohio very kind and almost, I want to say southern hospitality, but we're not in the south.

And what do they have that Ohio doesn't?

Oh, I miss the weather. I miss the weather and the beaches. Oh, my goodness, it was beautiful living down there with all the palm trees and the sunshine. They definitely have it better down there, for sure.

I know your predecessor (Noah Ruggles) was a surfer. You're obviously a little bit of a beach bum. What is it you like about the beach?

Just getting to put your toes in the sand and listen to the waves. Just kind of laying out. I mean, there's nothing more relaxing than being on a sunny beach on a nice day.

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So not a beach volleyball guy or a grill guy? You just like to lounge?

I do have a soccer background, so I like to play soccer on the beach with some friends. That's a favorite. That's a good one. Toss the football around. You know, play some tackle football right there in the shallow water. That's always fun.

I know you have a sister. How often do you touch base?

I call my sister and my mom every day. My dad every day. We're really close as a family, so we like to talk.

What's her name?

My sister's name is Madison. She is in law school right now. She's studying a lot, to say the least. She's a really hard worker. I want to be like her in the classroom. She's very smart. Photographic memory.

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Does she have a genuine photographic memory or just a really good memory?

I think it's genuine, but it might just be really good. I've always been envious of her for that.

What's your mom do?

My mom actually just retired from her job. So she's a stay-at-home mom right now, just taking care of our dog, Barkley. He's a little Tibetian terrier. That's her best friend.

How old is Barkley?

He just turned 3.

What's his best trick?

He can shake. He can, oh, there are so many things that, that dog can do. He loves to play fetch. Loves to play fetch. Great dog.

And what's your dad do?

He's a sales manager for ... an oil and gas company. They sell frack plugs. Houston is a big oil and gas place. Growing up in Houston, you drive down the freeway and there's a plant every three minutes. Your whole world is kind of focused on that down there.

What do you like about Houston?

I mean, it's home. The food, I really like the food. Mexican food is my favorite. I like the Astros. I like baseball. The Rockets have always been good. Those are my people down there. So the people, the hospitality. Everybody is always super nice, super kind, and it just feels like really a tight-knit community down there. Just love it.

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So the Rockets, the Astros you root for...

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. Good win on Sunday. Yeah, but my parents have always been Dallas Cowboys fans. The "triplets" (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin) back in the '90s. We have stuff up in my house. You know, a signed picture of Emmit Smith I know is in my living room. So huge Cowboys fan. Was born into it.

What else is on the walls?

Just the Cowboys stuff, actually. My mom has put up a couple of Ohio State things, but just trying to keep it low key with that stuff ... Obviously, I hope to add a ring or two or, who knows, a national championship jersey or something like that.

You mentioned you like Tex-Mex. Are you much of a cook?

I am not much of a cook. My dad is a fantastic cook. We call him 'chef.' I always grew up eating good foods. So that's always nice. But, no, not me. I'm trying to learn from him. I'll call him up on Facetime every once in a while, 'How do you do this? How did you make that? I need to make that.' But I'm working towards that. I'm learning.

What's his best dish?

He makes really good crawfish etouffee. His roast is really good, too. Makes a good roast. Those are probably two best.

And what's your favorite food?

That's a tough one. I like a good steak, but that's a tough one. There was this one place, it's called The Black Walnut Cafe, they had a tomato basil soup with tortellini on the bottom of it. It was really good. I had that one time after a soccer tournament, and I was in love with it. I wanted to go back all the time. But they took it off the menu, so I need to figure out how to make that.

Do you ever Google yourself?

No, not really. I try to stay off of social media just because what I do is so results-based. So if I miss a kick, I'm like, 'Whew. I'm not going to look on social media this week or for a long time.' It's a spotlight and a lot of people don't know what goes into it, but they just see the result. So when they see that result, they're like, 'Oh, I could have made that,' or 'Oh, that was an easy kick. You should have made that.' It's not always that easy.

Besides kicking, what's something that you're really good at?

I was really good at soccer, if I can say that?

Yeah, you absolutely can. I mean, I'll fact-check it, but you can say it.

(laughs) I played in the Dynamo Academy for a couple years, and I was moving up the ranks when I picked up football and decided, you know, I like this better. I'm going to do this. But, yeah, if I wasn't playing football, I'd definitely be playing soccer. Somewhere. I don't know where, probably not Ohio State, but somewhere out there.

So specialists are all supposed to be eccentric somehow. What's the eccentricity you bring to the specialists' room?

I think I'm known as the video game guy, which is kind of weird because when I go play with my friends from back home I'm the worst one, but yet I'm the best out of (our specialists). I think it's because they're all older than me, especially grandpa Jesse (Mirco).

But video gaming usually comes with trash talk. I didn't think specialists were particularly known for trash talk?

Well, yeah. But I'd like to say I'm better than the average specialist at trash-talking. I can throw down. Yeah, if some guys get too close on (a field goal try), you might see some words fly. I like giving it back to them.

I actually meant when you were gaming, but now I'm curious: When you're on the field is the trash talk spontaneous or do you ever bring something pre-scripted?

It's spontaneous 99% of the time. Unless somebody has done something before on a different play, then it will be scripted because I will have thought about it on the sidelines. ... Usually it's just from the heart. Just bad stuff.

What would you say is your proudest moment? And don't worry about being humble. I'm giving you permission to brag.

Probably being a walk-on and then kind of taking over and going on scholarship. That was a big moment for me to be able to call my parents and have that proud moment. I wouldn't be here without them. And they put a lot into my success and my journey.

Where's your happy place?

The football field. There is where I feel the most free and at home.

So one day when you're done in the NFL...

Hopefully.

We're going to speak it into existence. When you're done in the NFL, what is it you hope to be doing?

I want to be a special teams coordinator. Because there aren't very many kickers that are special teams coordinators, but I feel like a kicker could relate to the specialists, which is a problem in college football and honestly all of football. They don't really know what's going on with the kicker. ... So get involved with special teams somehow. Maybe open up my own kicking school and help out the youth.

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You have a great name for a kicking academy.

True. Yeah, I do.

The Jayden Fielding Kicking Academy just has a ring to it.

It does.

What's your middle name?

Keith.

OK. So the Jayden Fielding Kicking Academy has a ring to it.

Yeah. Yeah. We're not...

Or the JKF?

That works. That does work. I may have to think about that. That's good branding.

What's a cause that's important to you?

Cancer research. I want to try and get a program going for, like, every point that I make somebody donates a certain amount of money to cancer research. I've met a couple of people who had cancer in childhood, even our teammate Avery (Henry), seeing him go through his journey. You want to be in a position to help. Or I know the Shriners Hospital for Children, it's a big thing from around where I'm from in Galveston, Texas. ... Just overall health and wellness.

So with wellness being important to you, what's your best self-care advice?

Building good strong relationships with people and maintaining those relationships.

That's so good I want to know if you have any other advice.

Love yourself, because in reality if you love yourself, you'll be able to give more love to others. And everything around you will just blossom once you love yourself. So a good routine that I heard the other day is you wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth with your opposite hand – so I'm righthanded, so I brush my teeth with my left hand – you look in the mirror and say 10 times, 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.' Just repeat it. Then you splash some water on your face, and it's supposed to bring up some dopamine levels or something like that. I've been doing it, and I've been a lot happier. It's supposed to improve your happiness.

I'm so trying that.

I found that on TikTok, which my mom calls the most useless app on my phone. She's not wrong most of the time, but that helps. The funny cat videos help a lot, too.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU kicker Jayden Fielding shares advice on how to handle pressure