Alex Henery (born August 17, 1987) 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 ...

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

. 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 ...

for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, and set an NCAA record for field goal accuracy with an 89.5% success rate. He was selected by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in the fourth round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

Early life

Henery was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. He attended

Omaha Burke High School Harry A. Burke High School is a secondary school located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The principal is Darren Rasmussen. The school's mascot is the Bulldog. Each year in May, the Nebraska State Track Meet is held at the school. Its stad ...

and was one of the top walk-ons in Nebraska's 2006 class. He earned ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...

'' first-team All-Nebraska and first-team

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in ...

Super-State honors as a punter. Henery averaged 41.4 yards per punt as a senior, and also connected on 6-of-10 field goals and 37-of-38 extra-point tries. Henery contributed to Omaha Burke High School having a 7–5 finish and earning a trip to the state semifinals. He earned first-team all-state honors as a junior, averaging 41.7 yards per punt. He also played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and led Burke to a 14–3 record and the state playoffs. He received a scholarship offer to play soccer for

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

College career

Henery attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, and played for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...

team from 2007 to 2010. For most of his college career, he served as the punter and placekicker for the Cornhuskers, and received all-conference honors at both positions. He was a second-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

selection at placekicker in 2009 and 2010, and was previously an honorable mention selection in 2008; at punter, he was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2010, and received honorable mention honors in 2009. On November 28, 2008, he set a Nebraska team record when he kicked a 57-yard field goal in a 40–31 victory over the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

. During his four seasons as a Cornhusker, he set an NCAA career record by completing 89.5 percent of his attempted field goals. His total accuracy on combined field goals and extra points also set a new NCAA record of 96.7 percent. He is the all-time leading scorer in Nebraska history with 397 points.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

The

chose Henery in the fourth round of the

with the 120th overall pick. He began the season as the Eagles' starting

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 ...

, and set a new NFL record for field goal accuracy by a rookie kicker. In Week 16, he kicked a career-best 51-yard field goal in a 20−7 win over 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 ...

Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

. In his second year with the Eagles, he set a franchise record by making 18 consecutive field goals, and went on to extend the record to 22 (then-longest active streak in the league), before just missing a 58-yard field goal in Week 14 against Tampa Bay. On August 30, 2014, Henery lost the starting

position to

Cody Parkey Cody Parkey (born February 19, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an ...

and was released by the Eagles.

Detroit Lions

On September 22, 2014, the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

signed Henery to replace struggling rookie Nate Freese. On October 6, a day after missing three field goals in the Lions' week five loss to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, including a potential game-winner late in the final minute, he was released by the team.

Post-career

Having retired from football, he currently works for Tetrad Property Group, a real estate company. Henery also occasionally instructs at summer kicking camps and gives private lessons.

Personal life

Henery is the son of Guy (computer business) and Mary Henery (a medical technologist at

). He has an older brother named Eric and a younger sister named Andrea. In 2011, he married his longtime girlfriend Johna. He has a son named Landen.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles biographyNebraska Cornhuskers football biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henery, Alex 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska American football placekickers American football punters Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Detroit Lions players