Walk-on Rechule contributes for SU

 

Another positive coming out of Syracuse University’s opening football loss to Northwestern Saturday:

 

Kickoff specialist Niko Rechul showed a big leg, recording one touchback and getting the ball high inside the five on a couple of other kicks.

 

Rechul, a native of Munich, Germany, is a testament to persistence, and maybe a good example for any athlete. He made the team as a walk-on before the spring of 2006, but didn’t get on the field at all the last two seasons. He didn’t walk away, and now, he could be an important part of the team. A solid kicking game becomes even more important when a team is operating with a very slim margin, and SU is indeed operating with a very slim margin.

 

If it has taken Rechul a while to get into a game, it isn’t because he isn’t a good athlete. He has the soccer MVP at Huntington High School on Long Island and also played lacrosse, tennis, ran the 400 meters and wrestled. His brother Dawid <cq> was a wrestler at Harvard for the U.S. National team.