Wednesday afternoon, Houston Dynamo defender Craig Waibel participated in a field goal kicking exhibition at Reliant Stadium to promote his "Bald is Beautiful" campaign which benefits children's cancer research. Waibel kicked ten field goals and for each missed attempt he donated $100 to his cause. For each made field goal attempt, Texans' kicker Kris Brown would make the $100 donation.
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VIEW PHOTOS OF WAIBEL KICKING FIELD GOALS FOR CHARITY
After a brief warmup, including a lesson from Texans' defensive lineman Amobi Okoye on how to blow past a tackling dummy, Waibel stepped to the tee and drilled seven of ten attempts, including one from 55 yards.
"A few of the kicks were good," Waibel said. "The shorter kicks were obviously better, but my hip will tell me tomorrow how I really did."
Last year, Brown was available to offer tips to Waibel, but due to a scheduling conflict this year, Brown was unable to make the event.
"It's amazing just coming out here and swinging as hard as you can," Waibel added. "It's totally different conditioning than what I'm used to. You don't realize how narrow [the goal posts] are until you get a little bit farther away."
This is the second year of the "Bald is Beautiful" campaign. Last year Waibel raised $40,000, with this year's goal $75,000.
"I think what this does is emulate what the Houston Dynamo are about," he said. "We have great people on the team, great people in the office that all have champion causes and mine is children's cancer and the families and children affected by it."
Fans who wish to donate, can do so prior to this Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Union. For $100, fans can have their head shaved, receive a commemorative Waibel's Warriors T-shirt, wristband, and a Tex-Mex dinner. For more information on how to participate, visit www.houstondynamo.com/waibels-warriors.
