Danny Villanueva is blunt about soccer-style football kickers.

"Any little wimp can kick that way," he says. And make no mistake about it: his son Jim is no wimp.

The younger Villanueva has been kicking straight ahead for the Harvard football team for three years. And in the process, he's put his name into the Harvard record books as often as he's put away opponents.

If there's anyone who is capable of understanding the problems of kicking--and kicking straight ahead--it's Danny Villanueva.

The elder Villanueva played for seven years in the NFL as a straight-ahead punter-placekicker and scored 491 points and recorded a career punting average of 42.7--good enough for 10th on the all-time list. He is still widely considered the finest punter-placekicker to grace the NFL fields.

Now, 16 years after a lower back injury forced a premature retirement for Danny, his son Jim is widely considered the finest punter-placekicker ever to grace the Crimson fields.

"He has added very positively to our kicking game." Harvard Coach Joe Restic says of Jim. "It's unique that one player handle [both] phases of that part of the game--and he does it very well."

Unlikely as that may seem. Danny Villanueva claims he didn't encourage Jim to become a football kicker.

"He was playing soccer at an early age," recalls the elder Villanueva of his son. "I didn't want to push him, but he started to kick on his own. When he chose the crazy spot [of kicker]. I helped him. But I wanted him to make the decision."

It is easy to understand Danny's apprehension of his son's choice of position. Kickers are an unusual breed. They play the individual role in a team sport. They fight against themselves as often as the other team.

"It's very strenuous mentally," Jim says. "You have to deal with your body being filled with adrenalin. You have to group all of your mental energy into making the kick, calm yourself and put down the adrenalin. After you do it, you let everything go."

Every football Saturday for the past three years--with just one exception--Jim Villanueva has put himself on the spot for the Crimson. And along the way, he's compiled some impressive Harvard records.

Top career scorer among kickers (139 points)

Most field goals made (127)

Best one-game punting average (48.8 vs. Army in 1982)