Andre Heidari (born July 12, 1993) is a former

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

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 played college football for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. As a true freshman in 2011, he completed 88.2% of his

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

s, the third highest field goal percentage in the nation, and all 50 of his PAT attempts. He was named First Team All-Pac-12,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

All-American Honorable Mention, and First Team Freshman All-American by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

. He was also a 2011

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns ...

semifinalist.http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/heidari_andre00.html USC Trojans bio

Early life

Heidari attended Stockdale High School in Bakersfield, California where his 2010 honors included UnderArmour All-American, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100 and Cal-Hi Sports All-State third team as a senior placekicker and punter. As a 2009 junior, 59 of his 70 kickoffs were touchbacks and 20 of his punts pinned opponents within the 20-yard line (with a long of 63 yards) as he made the All-Southwest Yosemite League second team.

College career

As a true freshman in 2010, Heidari was the starting placekicker and kickoff specialist for USC. In 12 games, he completed 15 of 17 field goals and all 50 of his PAT tries. His 88.2% field goal percentage was third in the nation among kickers with at least 10 made field goals (and the best among freshmen and sophomore kickers). He made nine consecutive field goals before a miss at Notre Dame and was 4-of-5 on field goals of at least 40 yards in 2011 (with a 50-yarder). Of his 76 kickoffs in 2011, 25 pinned opponents within the 20-yard line (including 10 touchbacks). He also made four tackles. He was one of 20 semifinalists for the 2011 Groza Award. He made the 2011 CBSSports.com, CollegeFootball News.com and Phil Steele Freshman All-American first team and YahooSports.com Freshman All-American second team. He made 2011 SI.com All-American honorable mention. He made the 2011 All-Pac-12 first team. He made the 2011 ESPN.com, CBSSports.com and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team. In the opening game of the 2012 season against Hawaii, Heidari tore his meniscus in his right leg. With an injury, Heidari returned to make a 28-yard field goal to end the first half.

Professional career

On June 10, 2015, Heidari was assigned to the

Los Angeles KISS The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL).

References

External links

USC Trojans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heidari, Andre All-American college football players Players of American football from Bakersfield, California USC Trojans football players American people of Iranian descent Living people 1993 births Los Angeles Kiss players Sportspeople of Iranian descent