Jeremiah Detmer might well set the University of Toledo record for field goals. He might be named an All-Mid-American Conference player again. He also might get his shot at the National Football League.

Football just might be Detmer's third-best sport. He became a football player only because he was a soccer player first, and since Detmer has been on UT's campus, the football team has found out he is nothing short of a dodgeball legend.

“He's the best dodgeball guy on our team,” UT coach Matt Campbell said. “When we go play dodgeball in the winters, he's No. 1. Nobody can get him out. No question. He's that athletic.”

Detmer is nine made field goals away from tying UT's record, but his entrance into football wasn't exactly fable-worthy.

He wasn't in the backyard dreaming he was Adam Vinateri. Detmer was the right age at the right time when Hilliard Davidson High School needed a soccer player to kick field goals for the football team. The Wildcats' kicker, Colby Catlett, also a soccer player, was set to graduate, so the football team told him to find a replacement. He picked a freshman forward on the soccer team to be the next kicker.

“He said, 'Hey, you want to come try this out?'” Detmer recalled. “I said OK, so I went with him, kicked, and was OK at it. This was like Week 9 or 10 of the football season.

“Then I just showed up the next year and started kicking.”

Detmer quickly became proficient as a kicker for the Wildcats, one of the top programs in the state. He scored well at a camp after his junior season, and the Rockets took notice.

When UT offered a scholarship, Detmer did something he never would have guessed when he started high school: he gave up soccer before his senior season to focus on football.

“He was headed in the soccer direction in terms of scholarships until Toledo came calling, honestly,” Jeremiah's mother, Dawn Detmer, said. “The rest is history.”

The nature of scholarships played an important role for Detmer. Football makes more money than every other sport at nearly every school that has it, and thus has 85 full scholarships at the Division I level. Soccer rarely is the highest priority for athletics departments, and full scholarships are a rarity, especially for men’s teams.

Detmer knew he could play either sport in college, but even the best players struggle to obtain full soccer scholarships.

The lure of a fully financed college degree was a factor, especially when considered that Detmer's family had adopted a friend of their daughter's, adding another person to the family.

College isn't cheap, but Dawn said they left the call up to Jeremiah.

“I think he was wise beyond his years, even then,” she said. “He knew soccer wasn't going to be a full ride. It was completely his choice; we wanted him to pick wherever he'd be the happiest. I believe he chose [football] because he felt it was the responsible thing to do.”

The Rockets are glad he did. He made a last-second 37-yard field goal in the rain to tie the Rockets' game against Western Michigan — which UT won in overtime — and made his 60th career field goal Oct. 11 against Iowa State.

He also executed a perfect onside kick that helped UT beat Central Michigan, a strike reminiscent of a cross into the box in a soccer match.

“Now that's one of those kicks that his soccer game probably helped him in,” UT special teams coordinator Bryan Gasser said. “It was right on the money. We practiced it all week, and he came out and executed it better than we could have hoped.”

Campbell said the Rockets would be tempted to use Detmer's athleticism on trick plays if he wasn't such an irreplaceable kicker.

Detmer still plays soccer when he can, though it's rare. He occasionally helps Campbell's daughters kick around a soccer ball, and jumps into indoor soccer games during the winter.

Though football chose Detmer as much as Detmer chose football, he said everything about the switch has been positive.

“When I got here, there's obviously a 'What if?' kind of thing. Is Toledo where I want to be?” Detmer said. “Just being a part of this program for four years, the coaching staff, the friends that I've made, the things outside of football, being up in Toledo — I love where I'm at and wouldn't change it.”

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz

First Published October 23, 2014, 4:01 a.m.