High pressure kicks in the NFL come easy for Neil Rackers.

But the pressure inside the cockpit of a Blue Angel jet managed to get the best of him last Tuesday.

“I’m trying to get my stomach back to where it’s supposed to be,” Rackers said.

The Arizona Cardinals kicker and Illinois alumnus visited El Centro Naval Air Base in El Centro, Calif., to take a ride in a Blue Angel jet and kick footballs with active troops.

The event was a joint effort between Rackers and fellow alumnus Drew Hess – a C-130 Blue Angels pilot who met up with the kicker following the fly over.

A common acquaintance brought the former Illini together in a place where Hess admitted, “you don’t see too many Illinois grads floating around.”

“After I heard about the acquaintance, I said, ‘Yeah, I think Neil would be a great candidate to come fly with the team,'” Hess said. “Then I did some more reading and learned he’s from the University of Illinois.

“So it was great to have another Illinois grad around.”

Two starkly different professional backgrounds brought Hess and Rackers to the base. Hess graduated from the University in November 1996 and is in his third year with the Blue Angels.

In Rackers, Hess not only saw a fellow graduate but a highly accomplished NFL player.

“To me, it’s a complete honor to see, obviously, someone who is successful, and we got started in somewhat of the same spot at the University of Illinois,” Hess said “We took two drastically different career paths, but it’s certainly cool to meet Neil today. I mean, the guy was playing in the Super Bowl just a month or so ago.”

Hours after his flight, Rackers was still feeling the effects of his airborne escort over Southern California. The physical rigors of a single flight in the jet led him to express doubt over whether he could handle switching occupations with Hess, while at the same time he denied any pre-flight jitters.

“I wasn’t really nervous, but when you have to breathe they way they teach you to, and you’ve got to tighten up your body so you avoid passing out,” Rackers said. “It takes a toll on you and you don’t realize how good of shape these guys are in.

“I don’t think I could do this for a living. I don’t think my body could handle it. I’d have to train for a long time to do what these guys do.”

At the end of the 10 1/2 week winter training period, Hess and the Blue Angels will pack up and head back to their base in Pensacola, Fla., while Rackers returns his focus to offseason workouts and responsibilities. But for one hot day in the desert, two Illinois alumni reflected on their time spent in less balmy Champaign.

“We obviously both made the right choice in going to Illinois,” Rackers said. “So we got good educations, and it’s nice to see what other people are doing and to get to hang out for a day.”

As for the kicking contest arranged later in the day, the All-Pro kicker revealed more nerves than before his flight in the fighter jet.

“Hopefully (the troops) don’t make me look bad,” he said.