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Inducted June 26, 2025

INDUCTION BANQUET PROGRAM STORY — June 26, 2025

Pressure is a Privilege 

By:  Kevin Toczek
Founder, DWC Business Solutions

Confidence, humility, hard work, and dedication. These traits weave throughout the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame membership, especially new member Stephen Gostkowski.

As one of the NFL’s most accurate, highest-scoring placekickers, Gostkowski made more than 86% of his field goal attempts and scored 1,875 points over a 15-year professional career. He helped the New England Patriots win three Super Bowls, making four Pro Bowl teams, three All-Pro teams, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2010 Team along the way.

But the truth is he’s been a top athlete his whole life. Gostkowski’s scholarship at the University of Memphis was for baseball (he walked on to the football team). And he was among the best high school soccer players, having tried out for the U.S. Olympic Development Program.

Growing up in upstate New York and then Mississippi, he always pushed himself, no matter the sport. Of course, he had a supportive family too.

“I’d play in a football game Friday night, then we’d we drive to a surrounding state to play in a soccer or baseball tournament on the weekend,” Gostkowski said.

But he had to choose.

“My dream was to be a professional baseball player,” he said. “It just happened where my kicks stopped curving and so did my curveball, so the decision was kind of made for me.”

That’s one of the great things about sports; they can teach us about life.

Confidence

It started when he was chosen for street hockey teams over older kids. Then it was ice hockey. Then baseball. Then soccer.

Gostkowski started on teams when he was among the youngest players and excelled.

At the U.S. Soccer showcase, he scored three goals. He once held the Mississippi record for longest field goal by a high schooler. The confidence borne from such success is needed to be a kicker of Gostkowski’s quality.

But his journey wasn’t always easy.

Humility 

As a youngster, Gostkowski was surrounded by family that kept him focused…and fed.

“My mom and grandparents would make a mean pierogi,” he said. “But I only liked the cheese ones. I didn’t like sauerkraut very much.”

However, the traditional pierniczki Christmas cookies are another story.

“Those were my favorite,” he said. “I love that they taste a bit like licorice.”

But after moving, the extended family largely remained in New York, which was a big change. And while sports offered connections with others, they could be humbling too.

Remember that U.S. Soccer tryout? Despite three goals, Gostkowski didn’t make the team. The coaches thought he was too interested in other sports.

“That was crushing,” he said. “I thought I was a shoo-in. I truly felt like I deserved it.”

Obviously, nobody likes losing. But you can’t kick in the NFL without periods of deep humility.

“Playing a bunch of sports helped me learn different ways to focus, deal with success, deal with failure…if you can’t handle failure as a kicker, you won’t make it very long because it’s inevitable.

“You can’t let feelings get in the way of opportunity.”

Hard Work and Dedication

Since he was playing football at Memphis, Gostkowski’s baseball coaches made him choose pitching or hitting. It was puzzling to him since he was good at both.

“I chose pitching. It was my favorite and got me the most looks from pro scouts,” he said. “But every time I wasn’t pitching, I thought I should be out there hitting.”

Once he had a legitimate NFL chance, Gostkowski let nothing stand in the way of pursuing the opportunity.

“I fell in love with the process of trying to be as consistent as possible,” he said. “I was very driven and focused.”

While he had an active social life and met his wife in college, the hard work paid off.  In the 2006 NFL Draft, Gostkowski was selected by New England in the fourth round, the first of just two kickers taken. And this time around, his athleticism was an asset.

“One of the reasons Coach Belichick liked me was I played two sports in college,” he said. “He knew I was an athlete, not just someone who kicks.”

The faith was repaid. The rookie quickly took charge of kicking duties on a Patriots team that won its division and advanced to the conference title game.

“When I reached my ultimate goal of becoming a professional athlete, I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of having a chance to be successful.”

His first year, Gostkowski was perfect in the playoffs, nailing eight field goals and nine extra points.

Pressure is a Privilege

Gostkowski replaced one of the best kickers ever on one of the winningest teams ever. Welcome to the league. But it was a great spot for him because the Patriots emphasized special teams.

“Coach Belichick made sure everyone valued that third of the game just as much as offense and defense,” he said. “He would start off every meeting talking about special teams. We used it as a weapon as much as we could.

“It was cool to be at the highest level and get the most respect. Coach Belichick and the whole team valued every position and respected everybody who worked hard because of how hard it is to make it and stick around.”

Still, that speaks nothing of the pressures of winning and keeping a dynasty thriving. But that’s not how Gostkowski sees it.

“I think of that pressure as a privilege, to have that many people believe in you,” he said. “There can be times when you wish an outcome was different. But I just tried to change my mindset to where I’m so grateful and like privileged to even be in that situation.”

That explains Gostkowski’s continuous drive to improve, whether it was technique, nutrition, training, mindset, or anything else. And perhaps more importantly, to not let minor failures get in the way of bigger opportunities.

“It’s a mindset. A lot of the great athletes I played with – Brady, Edelman, Bruschi, Vrabel, Slater, and others – you’d see them make a mistake and sure, they’d be upset, but they’d be right on to the next play,” he said. “They had confidence they’d figure it out next time.”

So, the famed “Patriot Way” is about staying focused on what matters, working hard, and continually stacking wins. It’s just like the “Stephen Gostkowski Way.”