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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. The term derives from the attempted scorer kicking the ball "from placement" of a teammate holding the ball rather than by individually drop-kicking the ball through the goal posts. Specialized role The kicker initially was not a specialized role. Before the 1934 standardization of the spheroid, prolate spheroid shape of the ball, drop kicking was the prevalent method of kicking field goals and conversions, but even after its replacement by place kicking, until the 1960s the kicker almost always doubled at another position on the roster. George Blanda, Lou Groza, Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung are prominent examples of players who were stars at other positions as well as being known for their kicking abilities. When the one-platoon syst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 24 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri is the NFL's all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points, in addition to holding the NFL records for field goals made (599), postseason points (238), and overtime field goals made (12). He is considered one of the greatest placekickers of all time. Vinatieri played college football for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. He joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1996, where he played for 10 seasons, and was a member of the Colts for 14 seasons. A four-time Super Bowl winner – three with the Patriots and one with the Colts – he has the most Super Bowl wins for a kicker. He is also the only player to score 1,000 points for two different franchises. Retiring in 2021 after a year in free agency, Vinatieri was the last active player whos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Carney (American Football)
John Michael Carney (born April 20, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1987. Carney was also a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, and New York Giants. He was a Pro Bowl selection with the Chargers in 1994 and with the Giants in 2008. When he was released from the Saints' active roster in December 2009, Carney was third on the NFL career scoring list with a career total of 2,044 points. He was the last remaining player from the 1980s still active in professional football. He has also worked as a kicking consultant for the Saints. Early life Carney attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, and lettered in football. In football, he won All-Sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justin Tucker (cropped)
Justin Paul Tucker (born November 21, 1989) is an American professional football kicker. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2012, spending 13 seasons with the team. Regarded as one of the greatest placekickers ever, Tucker holds the NFL record for longest field goal at 66 yards and career field goal percentage at 89.1%. He has also been named to seven Pro Bowls and five first-team All-Pros, and was a member of the Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII. Early life Tucker attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. At Westlake, he was a teammate of future NFL quarterback Nick Foles, tight end Kyle Adams, and linebacker Bryce Hager. Tucker played wide receiver, safety, and placekicker on the Westlake Chaparrals. He also played soccer from age three or four up until his sophomore year. Tucker played in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. College career Tucker attended the University of Texa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morten Andersen
Morten Andersen (born 19 August 1960), nicknamed "the Great Dane", is a Danish-American former professional football kicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons, most notably with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. Following a career from 1982 to 2007, Andersen holds the NFL record for regular season games played at 382. He also ranks second in field goals (565) and points scored (2,544). In addition to his league accomplishments, he is the Saints all-time leading scorer at 1,318 points. Andersen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Along with Jan Stenerud, he is one of only two exclusive kickers to receive the honor. Early life Andersen was born in Copenhagen and raised in the west Jutland town of Struer. As a student, he was a gymnast and a long jumper, and just missed becoming a member of the Danish junior national soccer team. He visited the United States in 1977 as a Youth For Understanding exchange student. He firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hornung
Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football halfback and kicker who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 to 1966 (except the 1963 NFL season, for which he was suspended after a scandal involving gambling and associating with gamblers). He played on teams that won four NFL titles and the first Super Bowl. He is the first Heisman Trophy winner to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award, and be inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. Packers coach Vince Lombardi stated that Hornung was "the greatest player I ever coached". A versatile player, Hornung was a halfback, quarterback and kicker. He was an excellent all-around college athlete at the University of Notre Dame, where he played basketball in addition to football. Early life Hornung was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of Paul V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mose Kelsch
Christian "Mose" Kelsch (January 31, 1897 – July 13, 1935) was an American football kicker and running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was a charter member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933 — a team which would subsequently be renamed the Steelers. Kelsch was regarded as a top-level semi-pro player for more than a decade prior to his belated arrival in the NFL at the age of 36, appearing as a member of a variety of teams in the Pittsburgh area. Biography Sandlot days Mose Kelsch grew up as an orphan in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill neighborhood. He earned the nickname "Mose" while playing sandlot baseball, though no one was able to recall the circumstances that brought the name about.Jack Sell"Funeral Rites Wednesday for Mose Kelsch,"''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,'' July 15, 1935. In his younger days, sometimes going by the nickname "Bipp", Kelsch was involved in gang activities in the Pittsburgh North Side Market House district.Chester L. Smith, ''Mose Kelsch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Martinovich
Philip Joseph Martinovich (February 9, 1915 – September 22, 1964) was an American professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He played college football at the University of the Pacific. Early life and college Philip Joseph Martinovich was born on February 9, 1915, in Diamond Springs, California. He attended El Dorado High School in Placerville, California. Martinovich was a member of the Pacific Tigers of the University of the Pacific from 1934 to 1937 and a three-year letterman from 1935 to 1937. He only missed one extra point during his entire three years as a letterman. Professional career Martinovich went undrafted in the 1938 NFL draft. He then played in all ten games, starting nine, for the independent Cincinnati Bengals during the 1938 season and scored 57 totals points. In 1940, he appeared in four games, starting three, for the Bengals, who were now members of the American Profes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Agajanian
Benjamin James Agajanian (August 28, 1919 – February 8, 2018), nicknamed "the Toeless Wonder", was an American football player, primarily a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and American Football League (AFL). Early life Born in Santa Ana, California, he graduated from San Pedro High School in the San Pedro community in Los Angeles. A placekicker, he played college football at Compton Junior College and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a physical training instructor. While playing in college, Agajanian had four toes of his kicking foot crushed in a work accident and then amputated in 1939. Pro football career Agajanian played professionally in the National Football League from 1945 through 1959, then in the newly formed American Football League for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers in 1960 and 1964. He also played for the Dallas Texans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Anderson (placekicker)
Gary Allan Anderson (born 16 July 1959) is a South African former professional American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. The first South African to appear in an NFL regular season game, he spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is also known for his Minnesota Vikings tenure. Anderson earned four Pro Bowl and two first-team All-Pro honors after joining the league in 1982 and was named to the NFL's second All-Decade teams of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the Steelers All-Time Team. With the Vikings in 1998, Anderson became the first NFL kicker to convert every field goal and extra point in the regular season. During the postseason, however, he missed a critical field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, which is often attributed with the Vikings' defeat. Anderson continued his NFL career for six more seasons until retiring in 2004. He ranks third in games played (353), points scored (2,434), an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Groza
Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional American football, football Tackle (gridiron football position), offensive tackle and placekicker while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Groza was professional football's career kicking and points leader when he retired after the 1967 season. He played in 21 seasons for the Browns, helping the team to win eight league championships in that span. Groza's accuracy and strength as a kicker influenced the development of place-kicking as a specialty; he could kick field goals from beyond at a time when attempts from that distance were a rarity. He set numerous records for distance and number of field goals kicked during his career. Groza grew up in an athletic family in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He enrolled at Ohio State University on a scholarship in 1942, but after just one year in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American professional American football, football quarterback and placekicker who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seasons of professional football, the most in the sport's history, and had scored more points than anyone in history at the time of his retirement. Blanda retired from pro football in August 1976 as the sport's oldest player at the age of 48, a mark that still stands. One of only three players to play in four different decades (the other two being John Carney (American football), John Carney and Jeff Feagles), he holds the record for most extra points made (943) and attempted (959). College career Blanda was a quarterback and kicker at Kentucky Wildcats football, Kentucky from 1945 to 1948. Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who later won fame and set countless records at Southeastern Conference rival Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebastian Janikowski
Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected 17th overall in the 2000 NFL draft by the Raiders. During his final season, Janikowski played for the Seattle Seahawks. One of only five NFL kickers to be selected in the first round of an NFL draft, Janikowski is the Raiders' all-time leading scorer and appeared in more games with the franchise than any other player. He also tied the then-NFL record for the longest successful field goal at 63 yards, which is the fourth-longest in league history. Early life Sebastian Janikowski was born on March 2, 1978, as an only child to Henryk and Halina Janikowski in Wałbrzych, Poland. His father was a professional soccer player and moved to the United States in the early 1980s in the hope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
