It’s not all relative

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

Joey Ashcroft first drew attention at the Air Force Academy as the nephew of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. But the junior placekicker from Springfield, Mo., is well on his way to making a name for himself these days.

Ashcroft is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the top kicker in college football. And it would be hard to find a more consistent placekicker in 2002.

Going into Saturday afternoon's game against UNLV, Ashcroft has connected on 14 of his 15 field goal attempts, including a perfect 4-for-4 in last week's 49-30 victory at Army that clinched a sixth straight Commander in Chief's Trophy for the Falcons. That tied an Air Force record for most field goals in a game.

What made it even more special is that his uncle took some time out from his hectic schedule to fly to West Point and cheer his nephew on from the sidelines.

After one field goal, the Attorney General, who addressed the Air Force team before the game on Friday night and then offered congratulations in the locker room afterward, could be seen on TV smiling and shaking his fists in celebration.

"He was pretty excited," Joey Ashcroft said. "We're a pretty close family. We get together for the holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. But when I was growing up he was gone a lot because he was the governor and a senator."

Ashcroft said he invited his uncle to the Air Force-Army game last summer.

"I knew his schedule was busy, but he found time to get up there which was great," Ashcroft said. "He gave the team a pep talk. He had come to our game against Navy a year ago and also talked to the team."

Ashcroft's father, Wes, was a younger brother of John Ashcroft. He died in a traffic accident in 1991 when Joey was just 10 years old.

"It was early on a Saturday morning and someone just pulled in front of him," Joey Ashcroft said. "It was traumatic. It was a rough time."

His mother, Denise, pushed Joey into sports.

He excelled in soccer at Glendale High School in Springfield and also played baseball and basketball. Then before his junior year, he gave football a try.

"My high school team needed a kicker, so I decided to give it a shot," Ashcroft said. "My mom really helped me a lot. She shagged balls for me and would hold the ball still for me.

"We'd go out every weekday for an hour or two and practice. And that wasn't easy for her in the heat of the summer. I owe her a lot."

By his senior year, the left-footed Ashcroft was good enough to kick a 51-yard field goal and earn second team all-state honors.

He kicked for Air Force's junior varsity as a freshman and handled kickoffs last year as a sophomore, registering 32 touchbacks on his 67 attempts.

This year he took over placekicking duties. And except for a 41-yarder at Utah that was about a yard wide to the left, he has been perfect in 15 field goal tries.

Now Ashcroft is getting known more for his football abilities than his bloodlines. Still, he says people occasionally will quiz him about politics and current affairs involving his famous uncle.

"They'll ask what's going on (in Iraq) and stuff," he said. "I'm like, 'I haven't talked to him in a couple of weeks.' When I'm with the cadets, we usually spend more time about what's going on here than on national politics."

And this week the topic centers more on beating a UNLV team that has handed the Falcons back-to-back one-sided losses, including a 34-10 setback last November in Colorado Springs.

"After we won the (Army) game, it was all about UNLV," Ashcroft said. "They've beaten us pretty bad the last two years. And I've never been to Las Vegas before, so I'm looking forward to that."