After being the starting kicker for the U.S. Military Academy from 2003-2004 and 2006, Capt. Austin Miller said had no intentions of pursuing a career in professional football.

He loved the Army too much. When he ventured across the street from his home to Doughboy Stadium during last fall’s Doughboy Classic, he had no idea he would have the chance to be the new place-kicker for the Columbus Lions.

“I live right across the street from the stadium and one day I just walked across to check out practice (for the Doughboy Classic) and I ran into John Hargrove,” Miller said.

Hargrove is part-owner of the Columbus Lions. The Lions staff coached the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team as it prepared to play the Columbus State University club team Oct. 28. Hargrove introduced Miller to Lions head coach Jason Gibson, who kept Miller in mind when he found out Lions kicker and Southern Indoor Football League Special Teams Player of the Year Trey Crum would not be returning for the 2011 season.

Gibson invited Miller to a practice session in December to test out his leg and his accuracy.

“I ran him through some kicking drills and we charted him,” Gibson said. “He kicked pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised.”

Gibson called Miller that night to tell him he wanted him to kick for the Lions this season.

“My first reaction was, ‘Can I really do this?’” Miller said. “I think I was worried I was going to stretch myself too thin. My wife wanted me to play because she didn’t know me in college. She was excited about it.”

Miller came to Fort Benning in 2007 and went through the Basic Officer Leader Course, Ranger School and Airborne School during a nine-month span. He transferred to Fort Richardson, Alaska, in 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in March 2009. Shortly before his deployment, he returned to Fort Benning where he proposed to and married his girlfriend, Jessica.

Miller is currently in the Maneuver Captain’s Career Course and will graduate June 24, just a couple of weeks after the football season will end and around the time Miller and his wife are expecting their first child.

Gibson said he is pleased with Miller’s talent, and he is also excited have a local kicker.

“Most of my kickers in the past have been guys from Atlanta or Biloxi (Miss.), and they can practice kicking at home,” Gibson said. “Having him be local is a big plus.”

Gibson said Miller’s discipline and military background could inspire his other players to work harder and perform at a higher level.

“Sometimes when you get guys with good work ethics it rubs off on everybody else,” Gibson said.

Though it’s been nearly five years since he kicked in a game-type atmosphere, Miller said nerves haven’t been a problem with his kicking. It won’t be any different from when he took his first kick in college coming in from high school, he said.

“You’re always expected to make every kick,” Miller said. “Even the crowd expects it. If a kicker misses a kick, they wonder what went wrong. It’s just what comes with the position; but that’s what makes it fun.”

Miller will get his fair share of kicks since he is transitioning from a college football field to an arena field that is half the size.

“That’s one of the things that interested me the most,” he said. “In a normal game you might get five to ten kicks but in indoor league you might get twice that many.”

Miller is currently trying to regain his leg strength. Conveniently, he walks from his house to Doughboy Stadium on weekends to practice 47-yard field goals. Most of them he makes, and some are good from 57 yards.

But Miller said he has no desire to deviate from his military career. He said this opportunity is nothing more than a blessing in which he can reconnect with memories he had while kicking at West Point.

“I never thought I would come back to this,” Miller said. “When I left the academy, I had some chances to pursue professional football, but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do and didn’t line up with what the Army wanted me to do. Semi-pro football is a fun thing for me to do on the side. I’m very competitive so I think it will be good to get back into some competition.”