Confidence and Identity

I just finished watching the Cowboys epic 24-17 victory over the previously undefeated Saints (how ‘bout them Cowboys!), in which the Cowboys managed to overcome Nick Folk missing another field goal of less than 20 yards (he’s missed 7 of his last 11 kicks). And then I went to YouTube to remind myself of the good ol’ days, aka 2007, and found this gem…

How can somebody who, as a rookie, made a game winning 52 yard field goal—twice—not even be able to make much shorter field goals when the game isn’t on the line? Furthermore, judging by NFL Network’s “exclusive practice footage,” he can’t seem to make them in warm-up under no pressure at all. It’s clear that his confidence has been shaken, but has his identity changed as well? To Cowboys fans such as myself, it definitely has. He has completed the transition from “awesome kicker” to “liability” in a mere 2 years. And I’m not alone in my frustrations. Immediately after Folk missed his 35 yard field goal, 5 of my friends from Texas updated their statuses to express their discontent. Thus, it appears that his identity has changed socially. But internally, has it changed? I would imagine that he doesn’t hold himself in as high esteem as he used to, but has identity really changed as a result of his job performance? My strictly intuitive hypothesis would be that his identity remains unchanged, but that, sans confidence, his expression of this identity is greatly altered.