Burn kicker welcomes cancer surviving mom to Boise

Most football fans don't come to a game to watch the kicker.

Laura Schatzkamer has been doing it for years.

Schatzkamer, the mother of Boise Burn kicker Ben Scott, traveled the country watching every game her son ever played for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She is making another trip this weekend, flying from Pittsburgh to watch the Burn (9-2) host the Stockton Lightning (4-7).

"I've been there for just about every kick, good and bad," said Schatzkamer, who raised Scott on her own. "He's my only child, so I've followed him - the good and the bad - his whole life."

Things are pretty good for Scott right now. The 24-year-old has scored 73 points in nine games, helping the playoff-bound Burn to the best start in team history.

Nine short months ago, however, Scott absorbed one of the hardest hits of his life, one that had nothing to do with football: His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"Ben immediately said he wasn't going to play football this year," Schatzkamer said. "But I told him 'Yes, you are. I don't intend to die of this.' "

Scott compromised by signing with the Mahoning Valley Thunder, an af2 team located about an hour away from his mother's Pittsburgh home.

"Fridays were her treatment days, so I wanted to be able to come home after walkthrough if she needed anything," Scott said.

Unfortunately for Scott, the Thunder released him before the season began. He worked through the winter as a bartender, kicking in the cold outdoors to stay in shape.

Then on April 14 - days before Schatzkamer's last cancer treatment - Scott got a job offer from Burn coach Brent Winter.

"He's been in Boise since then, and I've been doing great," Schatzkamer said. "I'm so glad it worked out for him, because he was willing to give football up for me."

Coincidentally, Scott's third game with the Burn was "Pink on the Turf" night, where players wore pink jerseys to raise money for the Komen Boise Race for the Cure, which supports breast cancer research. The jerseys were auctioned to fans, but Scott asked to keep his to give to Schatzkamer.

Winter and Burn president Eric Trapp obliged, and Scott mailed his pink No. 13 to Pittsburgh for Mother's Day.

"I think it's really cool," Scott said. "Who else plays in pink? Especially when your mom (has cancer)."

Schatzkamer has kept her battle with cancer private - she hasn't told most of her family out of concern for how it might affect her 92-year-old dad - but she plans to wear the jersey with pride.

"It was awesome he did that for me," Schatzkamer said. "The jersey means a lot to me because my son's a professional kicker, but the rest of the story is what makes it special."