Jonathan David Baker (born August 13, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. He also was a member of the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

Early life

Baker attended Foothill High School, where he lettered in football,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, track and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In football, he was a two-time All-South Yosemite League selection, playing at kicker and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He enrolled at

Bakersfield Community College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 31,000 students each semester or 46,500 annually, and offers associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

. As a freshman, he made 2 field goals of over 50 yards and hit a game winner with 0:01 seconds left. Baker transferred to

after his sophomore season. As a junior, he began kicking barefoot. He made 18-of-26 field goals and 26-of-26 point after attempts for 80 points. As a senior, he made 17-of-24 field goals and 23-of-24 extra point attempts for 74 points. He received Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week twice. He made 3 field goals in a game three times. At the time, only

Luis Zendejas Luis Fernando Zendejas (born October 22, 1961) is a Mexican former player of American football who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of ...

had made more field goals in a season for Arizona State than Baker.

Professional career

Baker was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

after the

1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

. After

Chris Boniol missed the first three preseason games with a pulled quadriceps in his right leg, the Cowboys were forced to make the unconventional move of keeping Baker as a kickoff specialist. He played in three games and was released on September 19. On May 16,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. He was cut on July 18. On April 2,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, he was re-signed by the 49ers. He was limited with groin and heel injuries. On August 15, he was released after not being able to pass Gary Anderson on the depth chart. On February 18,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, he was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

and allocated to the

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores, were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

. He made 6-of-7 field goals, while the extra points were kicked by Scottish

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

player Gary Parker. He was released by the Dolphins before the start of the season on August 8. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he played in eight games with the

of the

. He made 20-of-28 field-goal attempts and led the league with a 60.5-yard average per kickoff. He was released to make room for Sean Fleming, who returned from the

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. On December 21,

, he was signed as a

by the Chiefs, to be the team's kickoff specialist. He hit 3 kickoffs out of bounds in the season finale against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, which contributed to a 41–38 overtime loss. A win would have given the Chiefs the AFC West championship and a playoff berth. He wasn't re-signed after the season. In June

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, he signed with the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the CFL, handling the kickoffs and long range field goals, while

Lui Passaglia Lui Passaglia (born June 7, 1954) is a Canadian former professional Canadian football, football player. He was the placekicker/Punter (football position), punter for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for a record-breaking 25 year ...

attempted most of the field goal. He played in five games, until being released to make room for

Dan Giancola on August 9. On October 22, 2001, he signed with the Eskimos to replace an injured Sean Fleming. He played in one game, missing one field goal and had another one blocked. He was released on October 28. On May 23,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he was signed by the Bakersfield Blitz of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, he set a league regular season record with a 54-yard field goal.

References

External links

Professional football stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Jon Living people 1972 births Players of American football from Bakersfield, California American football placekickers Bakersfield Renegades football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Dallas Cowboys players Scottish Claymores players Kansas City Chiefs players Edmonton Elks players BC Lions players Bakersfield Blitz players Canadian football placekickers Players of Canadian football from California Foothill High School (Bakersfield, California) alumni