Zach Hocker (born August 23, 1991) 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 ...

. He was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the seventh round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Early life

Hocker was a two-time All-State player at Russellville High School in Arkansas and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. 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 ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

from 2010 to 2013 and made 61 of 79 field goal attempts during that time.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Hocker signed a four-year, $2.1 million contract with the

on May 16, 2014, but was released on August 30, 2014 during final roster cuts before the start of the 2014 season in favor of

Kai Forbath Kai August Forbath (born September 2, 1987) is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, earning consensus All-American honors and winn ...

Miami Dolphins

Hocker signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

with the

on January 8, 2015, but was waived three months later.

New Orleans Saints

On May 17, 2015, the

signed Hocker, who beat out

Dustin Hopkins Dustin Hopkins (born October 1, 1990) is an American professional football placekicker for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected by the Buffalo Bil ...

to start the 2015 season as the Saints kicker. However, Hocker went on to miss 4 of 13 field goals over the first six games of the season, including a potentially game-winning field goal against 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 ...

in Week 4. The Saints consequently released Hocker on October 19, 2015 and signed Forbath. Forbath had earlier been released by the

and been replaced with Hopkins, whom Hocker beat in camp.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

referred to the situation as a continuation of the "NFL's kicking carousel."

St. Louis Rams

On November 28, 2015, Hocker signed with the

after their regular kicker, Greg Zuerlein, was injured. Hocker was active in two games before Zuerlein returned, and was released on December 15, 2015.

Cincinnati Bengals

On January 5, 2016, the

signed Hocker to a

. On August 29, 2016, Hocker was waived by the Bengals.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On August 13, 2017, Hocker was signed by the

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocker, Zach 1991 births Living people American football placekickers Washington Redskins players New Orleans Saints players Arkansas Razorbacks football players Players of American football from Arkansas People from Russellville, Arkansas Miami Dolphins players St. Louis Rams players Cincinnati Bengals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players People from Pope County, Arkansas