Does LSU football have a placekicking problem? It wouldn’t seem so. They’ve got this guy, who sprained his knee last year but doesn’t seem to miss field goals too often. They’ve also got this guy, who competently handles kickoffs. But do they have a female kicker who was the 2011 homecoming queen? They do not. And Mo Isom, who was not only the first athlete in school history to be crowned queen but also an All-American goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team, might be the answer.
Beginning today, Isom, who has one year of athletic eligibility left, will participate in a three-day tryout, according to a Facebook page USA Today is using as a source. The news has been reported elsewhere, though, and it really would be a remarkable thing for Isom to make the roster of a FBS juggernaut like LSU, especially considering her background. Isom’s father committed suicide in early 2009. Later that year, Isom was in a horrific car crash that left her in bad shape. More from the devout Concordia Sentinel:
And it wasn’t until Nov. 25, 2009, that God grabbed Isom’s attention, and it came at 1:30 in the morning on her trip back home to Georgia for the holidays.
Isom lost control of her jeep, flipped it three times and landed upside down around a tree in a ravine.
“I remember waking up hanging upside down, literally vomiting blood and choking on it because I was upside down,” Isom said.
Isom broke her neck and all of her ribs, while damaging her lungs, face and brain.
That Isom now wants to play football is impressive. There’s no questioning her leg strength. You can watch video of her giving first-team All-American LSU punter Brad Wing everything he can handle in this skills competition. Isom claims to have kicked a 51-yard field goal while working out on her own. She also boomed this outrageous 90-yard goal during a soccer game. It looks like a Powerade ad:
Top photo by Steve Franz, LSU Athletics Staff Photographer