Brendan Barrett never planned on being a placekicker. Eventually, though, the Peabody native couldn't ignore all the messages fate was sending him.

A soccer player as a child, Barrett's football career began as an inexperienced freshman at Bishop Fenwick, continued by chance during his post-graduate year at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, and will continue at the Division 1 collegiate level with a walk-on opportunity at Ole Miss.

Not bad for a guy who figured baseball was the sport in his future.

"Now I know," Barrett said. My whole life was baseball, but it worked out with kicking."

Barrett hadn't planned on playing football at Cushing; his intention was to get a full baseball season under his belt after injuries limited his time on the diamond in both his junior and senior years at Fenwick.

Barrett was spotted by Cushing football coach Wayne Clark last fall while goofing around on the football field with some friends. Even while having some light-hearted fun, Barrett's strong left foot was obvious to Clark.

The newly-named Cushing coach wasted no time extending an invitation.

"He asked me if I wanted to be the (football team's) kicker," Barrett said. "He said, 'If you can kick a 45-plus yarder, you can be our starting kicker.'"

Barrett not only did that with the Penguins, but also started getting the specialized coaching that opened up a whole new world of possibilities for him. It wasn't long before Barrett and Clark were talking about a future in Division 1 football.

"I have to give (all the credit) to Clark," Barrett said. "I didn't really love kicking until I worked with him. He taught me how important the kicker is."

Unlimited potential

Barrett was a soccer player until he reached seventh grade. Even though it wasn't his favorite sport, he developed the kicking foundation that his football success has been built on.

Just two years after giving up soccer, he volunteered to kick for the Fenwick freshman football team.

"It was my first year playing football and coach (Mark) Guido asked if anyone knew how to kick. I told him that I knew, but (not) how to kick a football," Barrett said. "He gave me a shot and I kicked pretty well.

"The next day after I became the freshman kicker, (varsity) coach (Dave) Woods came down to watch me at practice and made me the varsity kicker."

Barrett wasted little time making his presence felt with the varsity. The Crusaders had been struggling to find consistency in their kicking game and Barrett answered the call.

In his first game with the varsity, Barrett booted the game-winning extra point with only seconds remaining in what turned out to be a 29-28 Crusader victory over Catholic Central League foe Arlington Catholic.

He made a believer out of Woods very early.

"I always thought that he just needed individual coaching," Woods said. "When you're playing offense and defense, there's only so much time to coach special teams. If he had nothing else to do and could focus on kicking with a kicking coach, I thought his potential was unlimited. Brendan's got a lot of raw talent and he's got the right temperament. He's never too high or too low."

Of course, the high school kicking game is usually limited to extra points and kickoffs, with the rare field goal attempt sprinkled in.

Woods recalled an exciting miss.

"We tried a field goal in a game with Brendan and I can't remember the exact distance, but I'm pretty sure it would have broke Shawn McLean's school record (52 yards)," Woods recalled. "It hit the upright about three-quarters of the way up. It was a bomb."

'A Dream Come True'

Cushing may be a prep school, but the approach to kicking is much the same as local high school football. Field goals aren't attempted very often, but Clark made sure to get some video footage of Barrett kicking.

Then, the two discussed how real the possibility was that Barrett could not only kick at the next level, but that he could do so at the highest possible college level.

"I guess I realized how serious it was when UMass and UNH showed up at one of my games," Barrett said. "Coach had me send out letters to a bunch of schools to see what kind of interest I'd get back, and UMass and UNH sent me an email the next day. That's when I felt I could kick in college."

Clark had some coaching contacts down south because of previous coaching jobs; that's where the connection with Ole Miss occurred. Barrett, along with his father Brian, made the trip to visit the Oxford, Mississippi campus in February and came away very impressed.

"I kind of always thought that I'd go far away for school, but I never thought Mississippi," Barrett laughed. "It seems pretty weird, but I really liked it."

In terms of football, nothing is guaranteed with the Rebels. Barrett has the opportunity to prove himself as a walk-on candidate at Ole Miss; if he makes the team, he could earn a scholarship down the line.

As it stands, Barrett feels that he'll likely be competing against another incoming kicker for a spot on the team. But his decision to attend the school goes beyond football. The University of Mississippi offers a learning center that's perfect for a language-based learning disability that Barrett suffers from.

Barrett is spending the summer working hard on his kicking at both Bishop Fenwick or Peabody High, and he reports that he kicked a 61-yarder in a workout this summer.

"I feel pretty confident. I'm still nervous, but I met some kids when I visited. I know it's competitive, but they were all supportive," Barrett said. "I met with one of the kickers and he was a walk-on too. I match up with him pretty well and he has a chance at starting.

"It's definitely been a dream come true."