HELENA — Casey Kautzman takes every made kick a little less for granted these days.

Memories of Dec. 2, 2023, still float through the Montana Tech junior’s mind like booted footballs through yellow uprights, fleeting screen grabs of conscientiousness from the day Kautzman’s football career slammed into “rock bottom” with one blocked extra point .

“I’d never wish that upon my worst enemy,” Kautzman said. “First couple days, (I was) feeling the bottom of the barrel. Feeling like you let the whole Bobcat Nation down. Obviously you have to live with that pain. Months go by and you use that as motivation.

“Then a couple years go by and you look back like, ‘I actually grew up so much as a man and an athlete.’”

Kautzman felt guilty for not advancing Montana State’s second round FCS playoff

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