Associated Press

Colorado backup place kickers Katie Hnida and Matt Altman head to the sidelines after warming up prior to Colorado's game with Kansas at Folsom Field on Sept. 18, 1999.

Placekicker Katie Hnida — who became a lightning rod in the University of Colorado football recruiting scandal — is back in the Colorado huddle.

Lou Florez, owner and head coach of the newly formed minor league Colorado Cobras football team, confirmed today that Hnida, 26, will likely be one of two kickers.

She is among 90 male players now trying out for the Aurora-based team. Florez said three people were trying out for kicker, but he expected to select Hnida and another player.

Hnida joined the CU team as a kicker in 1999. Her name resurfaced in the midst of the 2004 football recruiting scandal that brought CU to its knees with lurid tales of parties fueled by booze and sex. Hnida came forward with an allegation that she had been raped years earlier by a CU teammate. Not only that, Hnida said players exposed themselves to her and made sexually explicit comments.

Former CU football coach Gary Barnett said on national television: "Katie was a girl — not only was she a girl, she was terrible. OK? And there is no other way to say it. She couldn't kick the ball through the uprights."

He was quickly suspended as coach. By 2005, Barnett was fired because of the scandal and a run of losses on the field.

Florez said Hnida's decision to join the team "speaks volumes" about her character.

"After what she's been through, any person would say, 'Naw, I don't want to go down that road again,'" Florez said. "She's got a passion and a desire. I think it's remarkable she's got so much drive."

Hnida could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Florez said official picks will be announced later this month.

Florez knows Hnida well. Her father, Dr. Dave Hnida, is the team's doctor. But Florez said that has nothing to do with Hnida being selected for the team.

Florez also knows Katie from his days as assistant football coach at Chatfield High School when Katie was a player there.

Hnida, who spent two years in Boulder, later transferred to the University of New Mexico. In 2003, she became the first woman to score in a Division 1 college football game when she kicked an extra point.

"She wanted to get back into this," Florez said. "She was kind of apprehensive of the reception she might get... We talked and I assured her the Cobras would be friendly."

On the first day of try-outs, there was some scuttlebutt about her presence, but, by the next day, it was over.

"A lot of our players have played at the college level and some at the pros, they really don't think it's a big deal," he said. "These guys know how to act."

Assistant Head Coach Shannon Richardson said there were "no bad feelings" about a woman being on the team.

"There's a lot of excitement with her being an addition on the roster," Richardson said.

Florez said Hnida isn't looking for special treatment.

"She's one of the only kickers I know who wants to partake in all the physical stuff and be another player. Usually, kickers try to isolate themselves a little bit."

Directional kicks are Hnida's forte, Florez said. The other kicker will be relied upon for kick-offs and punts.

The first Cobras game will be staged June 7 against the Colorado Havoc.