Louis Andrew "Lou" Michaels (originally Majka) (September 28, 1935 – January 19, 2016) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who was a standout defensive lineman for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

Wildcats from 1955 to 1957. After Kentucky's victory over archrival

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

in 1957, Michaels has been quoted saying, "Nothing sucks like a Big Orange." Michaels played professionally for 14 years, 1958–71, with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

and

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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He also played

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. S ...

, and was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

after the 1962 and 1963 seasons. In 1962, Michaels led the league in field goals made. He finished his career with a 54.8% field goal percentage and 955 points. By 1969 he was almost exclusively a placekicker for the Colts but after a season in which he was successful on less than half his field goal attempts and struggled especially with longer kicks, rookie

Jim O'Brien Jim O'Brien may refer to: Sports Basketball * Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1950), American coach for Emerson College, Ohio State and Boston College * Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1951), American player for the New York Nets and Memphis Sounds *J ...

won the Colts placekicking job in the 1970 preseason and Michaels was waived. After sitting out the 1970 season he tried out with the Packers in their 1971 training camp and won their place kicking job. After playing the first 10 games of the Packers' season he was placed on the taxi squad and rookie Tim Webster replaced him for the last 4 games of the season. After being listed behind Webster and rookie

Chester Marcol Czesław Bolesław "Chester" Marcol (born October 24, 1949) is a former professional American football player. A placekicker for the Green Bay Packers from 1972 to 1980, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1987. Early year ...

on the Packers' preseason depth chart in 1972, Michaels did not report the Packers' training camp and the team waived him. Michaels was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

in 1992 and into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. His brother, Walt Michaels, also played in the NFL. Michaels died January 19, 2016, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

Personal life

Michaels was born to a Polish family, son of a coal miner from

Swoyersville, Pennsylvania Swoyersville is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,008 at the 2020 census. Swoyersville is located within the Wyoming Valley West School District. History The community was originally called ''Swoyervil ...

. The family's surname is originally Majka, but was anglicized to Michaels in school.

References

1935 births 2016 deaths American football defensive ends American football placekickers Baltimore Colts players Green Bay Packers players Kentucky Wildcats football players Los Angeles Rams players Pittsburgh Steelers players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players People from Swoyersville, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American people of Polish descent Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania {{collegefootball-player-stub