Ben Sauls (born July 31, 2001) is an American 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 for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of 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). 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

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

Early life and high school

Sauls attended

Tippecanoe High School Tippecanoe High School is a public high school in Tipp City, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. It is the only high school in the Tipp City Exempted Village Schools district. According to US News 2016 Ranking of High Schools, Tippecanoe High School is 95 ...

Tipp City, Ohio Tipp City is a city in southern Miami County, Ohio, United States, just 15 miles north of Dayton. The population was 10,274 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Originally known as Tippecanoe, and then Tippecanoe City, it was renamed t ...

, and originally committed to play

at Boston College before flipping to Iowa State after

Steve Addazio Stephen Robert Addazio (born June 1, 1959) is an American football coach and broadcaster and former player. He became a color commentator for ESPN's college football broadcasts before the 2024 season. Before becoming a broadcaster, Addazio ser ...

was fired. He then flipped to the

, where he joined the team on a full scholarship.

College career

In his first two collegiate seasons in 2020 and 2021, Sauls appeared in 15 games where he attempted just five extra points, making three of them. In the 2022 Sun Bowl against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, he converted on all five of his field goal attempts, including a game-winning 47-yarder. In 2022, Sauls made all 47 of his extra point attempts and converted on 20 of 24 field goals. He struggled in 2023, making just 11 of 16 field goals. In week 2 of the 2024 season, Sauls hit the game-winning 35-yard field goal to beat

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. In week 6, he tied the Pittsburgh record converting on a 58 yard field goal in a win over

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. For his performance during the 2024 season, Sauls earned third-team all-ACC and first-team all-American honors and was named a

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. He also accepted an invite to play in the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl.

Professional career

Sauls signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2025.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steeler bioPittsburgh Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauls, Ben 2001 births Living people Players of American football from Miami County, Ohio People from Tipp City, Ohio American football placekickers Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players