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Princeton University Athletics
Jeffrey Sexton
Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC
Overcoming Obstacles: Jeffrey Sexton '25
November 13, 2024 | Football
By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com
The Tale of Jeffrey Sexton weaves nicely through three wildly different trips to Harvard.
Sexton, the senior placekicker for the Princeton Tigers, could never have imagined how that journey would go while he prepared for his sophomore preseason at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kent. Of course, that was a soccer preseason, and it wouldn't last long. He didn't make the team.
Looking for a new activity, and with a bit of persuasion from his father Jeff, Sexton tried out for the football team, one of the top-ranked programs in the area.
"I was absolutely nervous," he recalls. "Petrified might be the right word. It was intimidating being an underclassman and going to a storied program like that. On top of that, I wasn't that familiar with the football team, and I didn't really even know how to kick the football."
"I would say my dad gave me a gentle nudge off the cliff and into the deep water."
Sexton stayed afloat long enough to gather his bearings and turn himself into a solid — and then spectacular — kicker. He saw an opening upcoming on the varsity team, so he put his full focus into placekicking. While power was king on the soccer field, accuracy and consistency drove him throughout all the extra kicking sessions. He soon realized he had a talent, and he decided to test himself out at a Harvard football camp in hopes of becoming an Ivy League recruit.
Trip #1 to Harvard didn't go as he hoped. He kicked in high school with a small kicking block, but Sexton realized he would need to kick off the turf for the college scouts. It didn't go well, and he was back to the drawing board.
Sexton also struggled early in his varsity career, as he missed potential tying or winning kicks in back-to-back games. The previous disappointments and constant pressure could have been suffocating, but Sexton found a way to compartmentalize them.
"I think so much of it comes down to your subconscious," he said. "All of the reps you took by yourself on those late summer nights or weekend mornings, during high school and the offseason, that's when all of it comes into play. You feel the pressure, but that's when the process comes into play. You trust your technique, and you trust that everything you have done to this point is enough that you can succeed in the moment."
That trust paid off, as Sexton didn't miss a kick the rest of the season and ended his career with multiple all-state honors. He also rebounded in the recruiting process with a brilliant performance at a Princeton camp — outside of forgetting to actually register in the leadup — and jumped at the opportunity when the Tigers offered him a spot.
• • •
Sexton's second trip to Harvard would come after he had established himself in the Ivy League. He made 13 field goals during his freshman season, including a final-second 35-yarder in windy conditions to clinch a 31-28 upset of nationally ranked Monmouth during Princeton's Ivy League championship season.
He remembers his teammates not being sure whether to pump him up or leave him alone in the moments leading up to his kick. He was fine either way.
"One of the skills that I've developed is the ability to disassociate with what is going on in that situation," he said. "My focus was on my breathing and my technique. It's always nice to have hard work pay off in moments like that."
He was hoping for another moment on that second trip to Harvard, which came during a nationally televised Friday night game his sophomore season. Those hopes were overtaken over the 48 hours before the game when he began to feel flulike symptoms and basically remained in bed until the bus left for the stadium. He could barely eat or drink, but he held off heading to a doctor until after the Tigers' posted a dominant 37-10 win.
Once he headed to the hospital Saturday morning, though, he wouldn't leave again for several days. He was eventually diagnosed with a virus in the esophagus, and he developed ulcers that caused pain anytime food or drink went down. Though he made it back for the following game, Sexton lost weight and couldn't find the form that had made him so reliable just weeks earlier.
His health would return, but the mental edge he developed took a bit longer to come back. His junior year was fine from Sunday through Friday, but bad weather and a loss in confidence hurt him on Saturdays.
"I did let it affect me, and it makes your job really hard, because your failures compound on each other," Sexton said. "Not ending my sophomore year the way I wanted, I think there was a little loss of confidence going into the next year. It still comes down to remembering the work you are putting in, and disassociate from a resultative mindset. I was having a great year in practice, but I kept thinking it isn't paying off. That mindset got me nowhere."
This wasn't Sexton's first time facing adversity. The kid who didn't make his high school soccer team and then missed early kicks for his football team, who dealt with illness and struggles while competing at the top-rated university in the nation, knew he needed a mental shift.
"I was going to focus on myself, and enjoy my senior year," he said. "That's taken me miles. When you don't allow that situation to compound anymore, it allows you to flourish. You can escape from that rabbit hole of negativity and ultimately focus on the positives. It's taken me as far as I can go this season."
How far? Try 51 yards.
• • •
Sexton made his first four field goal attempts of the 2024 season, including one in his third trip to Harvard Stadium. That kick, just before halftime, got the Tigers within two scores of the Crimson. Princeton had the chance to cut the deficit even more early in the third quarter, but a third-down sack seemingly took the team out of field goal range.
It would have most other years, but head coach Bob Surace had seen a new — or maybe the old — Jeffrey Sexton in practice over the last few weeks. No Princeton kicker had made a field goal over 50 yards this century, but Surace sent him out there anyway.
Despite the distance and some wind, Sexton crushed it. There was no late drama to see if the ball would stay between the upright; he was already walking to the sideline to prepare for the kickoff when the ball was midflight. Like his personal journey, the kick was a success.
"Jeffrey has had a great season," said Surace, who noted that Sexton's impact goes beyond field goals alone. "We have been one of the best kickoff units in the country the past four years. He had a terrific start to his career and then overcame a tough health situation. I'm so proud that his senior year has been his best one yet."
Sexton feels the pride as well, and he knows the obstacles he overcame will serve him well in the future, when the History major hopes to land on Wall Street.
"From a personal growth standpoint, it's so gratifying to know that I can fight back from adversity," he said. "You have to remember to have faith in yourself and your process. Hopefully soon I'll graduate from one of the best universities in the world and start life from there. A journey like that hopefully speaks to my character for the rest of life and what I will be able to handle moving forward."
PrincetonTigersFootball.com
The Tale of Jeffrey Sexton weaves nicely through three wildly different trips to Harvard.
Sexton, the senior placekicker for the Princeton Tigers, could never have imagined how that journey would go while he prepared for his sophomore preseason at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kent. Of course, that was a soccer preseason, and it wouldn't last long. He didn't make the team.
Looking for a new activity, and with a bit of persuasion from his father Jeff, Sexton tried out for the football team, one of the top-ranked programs in the area.
"I was absolutely nervous," he recalls. "Petrified might be the right word. It was intimidating being an underclassman and going to a storied program like that. On top of that, I wasn't that familiar with the football team, and I didn't really even know how to kick the football."
"I would say my dad gave me a gentle nudge off the cliff and into the deep water."
Sexton stayed afloat long enough to gather his bearings and turn himself into a solid — and then spectacular — kicker. He saw an opening upcoming on the varsity team, so he put his full focus into placekicking. While power was king on the soccer field, accuracy and consistency drove him throughout all the extra kicking sessions. He soon realized he had a talent, and he decided to test himself out at a Harvard football camp in hopes of becoming an Ivy League recruit.
Trip #1 to Harvard didn't go as he hoped. He kicked in high school with a small kicking block, but Sexton realized he would need to kick off the turf for the college scouts. It didn't go well, and he was back to the drawing board.
Sexton also struggled early in his varsity career, as he missed potential tying or winning kicks in back-to-back games. The previous disappointments and constant pressure could have been suffocating, but Sexton found a way to compartmentalize them.
"I think so much of it comes down to your subconscious," he said. "All of the reps you took by yourself on those late summer nights or weekend mornings, during high school and the offseason, that's when all of it comes into play. You feel the pressure, but that's when the process comes into play. You trust your technique, and you trust that everything you have done to this point is enough that you can succeed in the moment."
That trust paid off, as Sexton didn't miss a kick the rest of the season and ended his career with multiple all-state honors. He also rebounded in the recruiting process with a brilliant performance at a Princeton camp — outside of forgetting to actually register in the leadup — and jumped at the opportunity when the Tigers offered him a spot.
• • •
Sexton's second trip to Harvard would come after he had established himself in the Ivy League. He made 13 field goals during his freshman season, including a final-second 35-yarder in windy conditions to clinch a 31-28 upset of nationally ranked Monmouth during Princeton's Ivy League championship season.
He remembers his teammates not being sure whether to pump him up or leave him alone in the moments leading up to his kick. He was fine either way.
"One of the skills that I've developed is the ability to disassociate with what is going on in that situation," he said. "My focus was on my breathing and my technique. It's always nice to have hard work pay off in moments like that."
He was hoping for another moment on that second trip to Harvard, which came during a nationally televised Friday night game his sophomore season. Those hopes were overtaken over the 48 hours before the game when he began to feel flulike symptoms and basically remained in bed until the bus left for the stadium. He could barely eat or drink, but he held off heading to a doctor until after the Tigers' posted a dominant 37-10 win.
Once he headed to the hospital Saturday morning, though, he wouldn't leave again for several days. He was eventually diagnosed with a virus in the esophagus, and he developed ulcers that caused pain anytime food or drink went down. Though he made it back for the following game, Sexton lost weight and couldn't find the form that had made him so reliable just weeks earlier.
His health would return, but the mental edge he developed took a bit longer to come back. His junior year was fine from Sunday through Friday, but bad weather and a loss in confidence hurt him on Saturdays.
"I did let it affect me, and it makes your job really hard, because your failures compound on each other," Sexton said. "Not ending my sophomore year the way I wanted, I think there was a little loss of confidence going into the next year. It still comes down to remembering the work you are putting in, and disassociate from a resultative mindset. I was having a great year in practice, but I kept thinking it isn't paying off. That mindset got me nowhere."
This wasn't Sexton's first time facing adversity. The kid who didn't make his high school soccer team and then missed early kicks for his football team, who dealt with illness and struggles while competing at the top-rated university in the nation, knew he needed a mental shift.
"I was going to focus on myself, and enjoy my senior year," he said. "That's taken me miles. When you don't allow that situation to compound anymore, it allows you to flourish. You can escape from that rabbit hole of negativity and ultimately focus on the positives. It's taken me as far as I can go this season."
How far? Try 51 yards.
• • •
Sexton made his first four field goal attempts of the 2024 season, including one in his third trip to Harvard Stadium. That kick, just before halftime, got the Tigers within two scores of the Crimson. Princeton had the chance to cut the deficit even more early in the third quarter, but a third-down sack seemingly took the team out of field goal range.
It would have most other years, but head coach Bob Surace had seen a new — or maybe the old — Jeffrey Sexton in practice over the last few weeks. No Princeton kicker had made a field goal over 50 yards this century, but Surace sent him out there anyway.
Despite the distance and some wind, Sexton crushed it. There was no late drama to see if the ball would stay between the upright; he was already walking to the sideline to prepare for the kickoff when the ball was midflight. Like his personal journey, the kick was a success.
"Jeffrey has had a great season," said Surace, who noted that Sexton's impact goes beyond field goals alone. "We have been one of the best kickoff units in the country the past four years. He had a terrific start to his career and then overcame a tough health situation. I'm so proud that his senior year has been his best one yet."
Sexton feels the pride as well, and he knows the obstacles he overcame will serve him well in the future, when the History major hopes to land on Wall Street.
"From a personal growth standpoint, it's so gratifying to know that I can fight back from adversity," he said. "You have to remember to have faith in yourself and your process. Hopefully soon I'll graduate from one of the best universities in the world and start life from there. A journey like that hopefully speaks to my character for the rest of life and what I will be able to handle moving forward."
Players Mentioned
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