SLIPPERY ROCK — C.J. Bahr isn't coming to Slippery Rock University just for kicks, though his family has made a good living at it.

Bahr, son and nephew of longtime NFLkickers Chris and Matt Bahr, respectively, Thursday signed a letter of intent with SRU.

"If the opportunity (to kick in the NFL)presented itself, I'd certainly give it a try,"Bahr said. "But that's not my focus. It's not a big-time goal of mine.

"I'm going to major in the business field."

And he figures to get on the football field early for The Rock this fall.

SRUkicker Ryan Daniel graduated and the team had no other kicker on the roster.

"Finding a kicker was the prime focus of our staff this recruiting season,"Rock coach George Mihalik said. "We watched more kicking tape this year than in the previous three years combined."

Bahr, Butler kicker Chris Haley and a kicker from the Columbus, Ohio,area, who will be kicking for Ohio in the Big 33 all-star game, were SRU's prime targets.

Haley opted for Grove City College and Mihalik said the Ohio kicker "wasn't a good fit."

Bahr looked at Penn State, where his father and uncle kicked, before narrowing his collegiate choices to SRU, Shippensburg and Bucknell.

"He looked at Penn State and they talked,"Mihalik said. "But a kicker goes to a school like that, he stands in line, then competes with three to five other walk-on kickers for playing time."

Bahr grew tired of standing in line. He started only one year at State College High School and shared the kicking duties with another senior.

Both were stuck behind Collin Wagner — now the No. 2 kicker at Penn State — before their senior seasons.

As a junior, Bahr converted seven of nine field goal attempts for the State College junior varsity. He was two of four on field goal tries — one was blocked — for the varsity last fall and connected on 47 of 50 extra points.

"We scored a lot of touchdowns, so there weren't many (field goal) chances,"Bahr said. "Being able to come to camp at Slippery Rock knowing I can become the kicker right away really appealed to me."

Bahr connected on 75 percent of his field goal attempts in high school. His career-long is 47 yards.

"We told him we'll be looking to bring one other kicker to camp and that our kicker on opening night next year isn't here yet. ... It really intrigued him,"Mihalik said.

"His leg strength will improve while he's here. What C.J. brings us right away is consistency and accuracy from as far away as 40 or 45 yards. That's what we were looking for."

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Bahr said his high school kickoffs usually reached the goal-line, the equivalent of reaching the 5-yard line in college.

"I didn't do a lot of kicking off, though,"Bahr admitted. "Our other kicker had a really powerful leg and handled most of that."

Chris Bahr kicked in the NFLfor 14 years and is second on the Oakland Raiders' all-time scoring list with 817 points. His 162 field goals are a record for that franchise.

Matt Bahr kicked for 17 seasons and won a Super Bowl in his rookie year with the Steelers. He kicked 300 field goals and 522 of 534 PATs in his pro career.

Chris Bahr has worked with Penn State kickers over the last few years, including current Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould.

"When it comes to technique and knowledge of the kicking game, we couldn't have found anybody better,"Mihalik said of C.J. Bahr. "This kid has learned from the best."