Benjamin James Agajanian (August 28, 1919 – February 8, 2018), nicknamed "the Toeless Wonder", was an American

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 ...

player, primarily a placekicker in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

(AAFC) and

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL).

Early life

Born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, he graduated from San Pedro High School in the San Pedro community in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. A

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 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 ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

from 1945 through 1959, then in the newly formed

for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers in 1960 and 1964. He also played for the Dallas Texans in 1961 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 ...

in 1962. He is one of two players (the other was Hardy Brown) who played in the

, the

, and the

. He was pro football's third kicking specialist (after Jack Manders and Mose Kelsch), booting field goals for 10 different professional teams in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, including two NFL champions: the New York Giants in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and 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 ...

in 1961. In the 1956 title game, he went 5-for-6 on extra points and 2-for-3 on field goals, while in the 1960 title game he was perfect on extra points (one) and field goals (three). During Agajanian's time with the Packers, he was mistakenly assigned the number 3; the number had been retired for Tony Canadeo nine years earlier. Agajanian remains the last Packer to wear number 3. He led the league in field goal attempts in 1947 (24) and 1954 (25) and also led in made field goals (15) in the former.

Later life

After retiring from the field at age 45, he was 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 ...

kicking coach for 20 years. He also coached

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

kicker Mac Percival for the 1968 season. Agajanian died in Cathedral City, California, on February 8, 2018, at age 98. His older brother was auto racing promoter J. C. Agajanian.

References

External links

* * *
"Ben Agajanian, Square-Shoed Kicking Star, Dies at 98," by RICHARD GOLDSTEIN, The New York Times, Feb. 13, 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agajanian, Ben 1919 births 2018 deaths American football placekickers Players of American football from Los Angeles Dallas Cowboys coaches Dallas Texans (AFL) players Green Bay Packers players Los Angeles Chargers players Los Angeles Dons players New Mexico Lobos football players New York Giants players Oakland Raiders players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players San Diego Chargers players Players of American football from Santa Ana, California American sportspeople of Armenian descent Sportspeople of Armenian descent American Football League players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers San Pedro High School alumni

Early life

Pro football career

Later life

See also

References

External links