NFL Camps -- No Avoiding Norwood Miss As Bills Prepare In London

LONDON - Even 3,000 miles from home, Scott Norwood can't escape The Miss.

The Buffalo Bills' kicker missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds of the Super Bowl last January, allowing the New York Giants to hold on for a 20-19 victory.

Six months later, Norwood and the Bills are in London for today's American Bowl exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Wembley Stadium.

Norwood would like to forget about the Super Bowl kick, but he's constantly reminded about it - even by a former fellow NFL kicker.

As the Bills came onto the practice field this week at Crystal Palace Sports Center, Norwood immediately was pulled over for an interview by a British television station.

The interviewer was Mick Luckhurst, an Englishman who kicked for the Atlanta Falcons and now hosts a weekly NFL show in London.

"I hate to ask the obvious question," Luckhurst said, "and you've probably heard it 1,000 times by now. But how can you come back after missing that kick in the Super Bowl?"

Norwood didn't wince, change expression or lose his composure.

"You forget about it, basically," he said. "You learn from it and you move on. The most important kick I'll take for the Bills is the next one."

Not even in Germany has Norwood's miss been forgotten. A German TV reporter pressed Bills Coach Marv Levy on Friday about Norwood.

"If someone misses a kick like that in soccer, he would not be forgiven," the reporter said. "Can you explain why the kicker is still on the team?"

Levy said, "Anybody can make a mistake. We don't say, `If you make one mistake, you're gone.' Scott Norwood has made his percentage of kicks. He's got good strength of character. I think he can come back."

As he waited on the sideline during practice Friday, Norwood said he was resigned to the fact that people will remind him about the missed kick.

"You expect that," he said. "It will go away.

"It's not a big thing on my mind right now," he added. "I'm just worried about the next kick. I've had a good career. I've just got to put it behind me and go forward."

Norwood is facing competition in training camp from Bjorn Nittmo, who was signed by the Bills after playing for the Montreal Machine of the World League of American Football.

"I've always had good competition in camp," Norwood said. "But I'm kicking the ball real well right now and that's all I'm going to concern myself with."

Jim Kelly, the Bills' All-Pro quarterback who pulled a hamstring on the first day of training camp, sat out of practice Friday and will miss today's game.

"Any time you can't play it's disappointing," Kelly said. "I'm just glad it's early in the preseason."

Eagles Coach Rich Kotite said quarterback Randall Cunningham will start, but will play no more than one quarter.

FRIESZ TOSSES FOR TWO -- FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Former Idaho quarterback John Friesz threw a pair of touchdown passes to Steve Hendrickson as the San Diego Chargers beat the Phoenix Cardinals 26-17 in a controlled scrimmage.

Friesz and Hendrickson had scoring plays of 4 and 2 yards. Hendrickson shook off tackles on both touchdowns.

Barefoot kicker Tom Whelihan had field goals of 40, 23 and 43 yards for the Chargers, and rookie running back Eric Bieniemy had four carries for 21 yards on San Diego's first touchdown drive.