Ryan Walker Longwell (born August 16, 1974Ryan Longwell
NFLPA.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014.) 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 ...

player who was a

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). After playing

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 ...

for the California Golden Bears, he started his

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

career 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 ...

, but never played a game for the franchise. He then played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

from 1997 to 2005. He played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

from 2006 to 2011. He also played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks during the 2012 playoffs.

Early life

Longwell attended high school in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

, where he played high school football for Bend High School's Lava Bears. A three-year letter winner in football as a kicker, Longwell also was the team's backup

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 also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

, earning three letters in that sport. He earned all-conference honors in both sports. In 1993, he started college at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

where he played

and earned four varsity letters. At California he served as both a punter and placekicker for the team, earning all-conference honors in the Pac-10 his senior year as a punter and second team honors as a kicker. Longwell graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in English.

Professional football

Green Bay Packers

Longwell was acquired by the Green Bay Packers off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers in

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 ...

. With the Packers, Longwell played in Super Bowl XXXII, where he kicked one field goal and three

extra point Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

s in their 31–24 loss to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He spent his first 9 seasons playing for the Packers, and scored over 120 points during 6 of those seasons. By the end of his 7th season in Green Bay, Longwell had passed Hall of Famer Don Hutson to become the Packers all-time leading scorer. And while Mason Crosby has since passed him, Longwell remains second on Green Bay's all-time scoring list.

Minnesota Vikings

Longwell signed 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 ...

contract with the Vikings in the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

offseason. In his second game with the

, Longwell had one of the best performances of his career. He was responsible for all 16 of the Vikings points in a 16–13 win over the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

, kicking three field goals (including the game-winning field goal in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

) and throwing a 16-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

pass on a fake field goal play in the fourth quarter. In the 2008 season finale against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, he kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to help the Vikings clinch the division in a 20–19 victory. During the 2010 offseason, Longwell, a close friend of Brett Favre, became a sort of unofficial spokesman for Favre, as the media frequently questioned him on whether Favre would return to the Vikings or retire. When Longwell picked Favre up at the airport in Minnesota on August 17, 2010, TV station helicopters followed Longwell's SUV all the way to Vikings headquarters. In 2018, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Seattle Seahawks and retirement

On January 8, 2013, Longwell was signed by the Seattle Seahawks after Steven Hauschka suffered a calf injury. On August 12, 2013, the

announced that Longwell would retire as a Packer.

Records

* Second leading scorer in Green Bay Packers history with 1054 points. * Has the second-most field goals in Green Bay Packers history with 226. * Kicked third-longest field goal in Green Bay Packers history (54 yards - tied with Chris Jacke and Dave Rayner) * Second most points by a player who never made a Pro Bowl (1,687) (Mason Crosby - 1,806).

Career regular season statistics

''Career high/best bolded''

Family and personal life

Longwell is the cousin of 1992 and 1996 Olympic athlete Michael Orr. He is married to Sarah Longwell, and they have two children, Shaye and Reece. Shaye played college tennis at LSU and Reece graduated from Georgia Tech. In 2023, Longwell joined his alma mater,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, under head coach Justin Wilcox as a senior analyst.

References

External links

Ryan Longwell at NFL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longwell, Ryan 1974 births Living people American football placekickers California Golden Bears football coaches California Golden Bears football players San Francisco 49ers players Green Bay Packers players Minnesota Vikings players Seattle Seahawks players Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Coaches of American football from Washington (state) Players of American football from Seattle Players of American football from Bend, Oregon