Aaron John Elling (born May 31, 1978) 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 signed by 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 ...

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 ...

in 2002. 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 ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. Elling has also been a member of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

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

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 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 ...

Early life

Born in Waconia, his family moved to Wyoming in his childhood. During his high school studies at Lander Valley High, he was a speaker at numerous events and was a player in the soccer team with whom he won two All-State honors.

College career

Elling attended

George Fox University George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

where he played soccer his freshman year. He then transferred to the University of Wyoming where he walked on the football team. Majoring in exercise physiology at Wyoming, he planned to attend

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

to study optometry.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

He signed for the Miami Dolphins as a college free agent on May 7, 2002, but was waived on August 27. In 2003, Elling signed with the Vikings as a free agent and played in all 16 games scoring 102 points. He made his NFL debut against 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 ...

on September 7. He was waived by the Vikings on September 2, 2004.

Tennessee Titans

Elling signed with the

on September 10, 2004, and in the season opener he scored five points and played as both kicker and punter. He was then waived by the Titans.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

Elling re-signed as a free agent by the Vikings on September 17, 2004. He suffered a broken ankle against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. He was waived by the Vikings on September 6, 2005. In his two stints with the Viking he had a 72 field goal percentage, hitting 18 of 25 attempts.

Baltimore Ravens

Elling signed with the

as a free agent on September 27, 2005, and played in nine games. He was waived by the team on September 1, 2006.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 22, 2007, Elling signed with the Atlanta Falcons. He was cut on August 6.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Elling was signed by the Jaguars on August 10, 2007, as a free agent but was then released.

Cincinnati Bengals

Elling was then signed by the

during the 2007 preseason. However, in his preseason debut, he tore a ligament in his knee attempting to make a tackle on kickoff, and was released on September 2.

Oakland Raiders

On August 8, 2008, Elling was signed by the

to fill in for

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 fo ...

in the preseason.

Offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

Mark Wilson was placed on injured reserve to make room for Elling. He was cut on August 26.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elling, Aaron 1978 births Living people People from Waconia, Minnesota Sportspeople from Carver County, Minnesota George Fox University alumni Wyoming Cowboys football players Pacific University alumni Minnesota Vikings players Tennessee Titans players Baltimore Ravens players Atlanta Falcons players Jacksonville Jaguars players Cincinnati Bengals players Oakland Raiders players