Jason Witczak (born May 24, 1978) is an

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

player. He is currently a free agent

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

who most recently played for the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League a ...

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 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. Witczak has also spent time on the rosters 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

College career

An all-conference wide receiver,

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

and punter at Horace Mann High School in

North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin North Fond du Lac is a village in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2020 census. Despite the name, North Fond du Lac is actually located northwest of Fond du Lac, as Lake Winnebago is directly north o ...

, Witczak attended the

University of Wisconsin–Green Bay The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UW-Green Bay, UWGB, or Green Bay) is a public university in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with regional campuses in Marinette, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan. Founded in 1965, it is part of the University of Wiscons ...

, where he played on the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

team. Because the school did not have a football program, Witczak transferred to

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

in 1998 to play both sports.D'Amato, Gary
"Playing for more than kicks"
''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'', July 17, 2000, p. 4C. Retrieved on July 31, 2013. He played his sophomore and junior seasons at Marshall University, where he was the long distance

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. The entire ba ...

kicker and his longest kick was 46 yards. Witczak then transferred to

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

, where he was named to the 2000 ''Football Gazette''

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Division I-AA All-American Team as a punter, and had a nation-leading 41.3 net punting average. Witczak punted 48 times for 1983 yards with 15 punts inside the 20-yard line, also connecting on 5 of 9 field goals with a long of 44.

Professional career

2004

Witczak began his AFL career as a mid-season replacement for the

. During his first AFL game, he suffered a season-ending injury after tearing his ACL on a kickoff. He was placed on

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 th ...

for the rest of the 2004 season. He spent the 2005 preseason with the Rattlers, but was released before the regular season began.

2006

Witczak was signed as a mid-season replacement for the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to At ...

, where he played in 7 games, hitting 4-11 (36.4%) field goals and 41-46 (89.1%) points after touchdown.

2007

Witczak broke a Kats record for the longest field goal in a game, completing a 57-yard field goal. He finished the season 4-13 (30.8%) for field goals and 91.2% (103-113) for points after touchdown. His percentage on XPAT's tied him for 8th in the AFL.

2008

Witczak went 15-16 on points after touchdown and 0-2 on field goals before tearing the ACL in his kicking leg in week 3 against the

San Jose Sabercats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

. He was placed on the injured reserve list and did not play again that season.

2010

Witczak went 39 of 42 (93%) on points after touchdown and 2 for 3 on field goals with a longest field goal of 45 yards before being replaced by

Fabrizio Scaccia Fabrizio Scaccia (born August 21, 1984) is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Arizona Rattlers as a street free agent in 2010. He attended Indian River State College, a school that did not have a ...

2011

Witczak was re-signed by the Arizona Rattlers for the last week of the season and the playoffs as a result of Fabrizio Scaccia's return to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

after the lockout ended. He hit 7 of 8 extra points in the last game of the regular season, and was 0 for 1 on field goals and 24 of 26 on extra points during the Rattlers run to the Arena Bowl, where they lost to the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members o ...

73-70 on the last play of the game. Going 10-10 in the game on extra points set an Arena Bowl Record.

Golf career

Witczak received instruction from

Manuel de la Torre Manuel Alejandro De la Torre Urbina (born June 13, 1980) is a former Mexican football defender. Career De la Torre began playing football as a defender with Club Universidad Nacional's youth sides. He progressed to Pumas' senior side where he ...

in his home state of Wisconsin, playing in junior tournaments there. He is a Class A PGA Professional who taught from 2003 to 2009 in Phoenix at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge at Wildfire Golf Club before becoming a part-owner at Adobe Dam Family Golf Center in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the late 1800s the area that is now Glendale was all deser ...

, where he taught golf from 2009 to 2013. He is now the Director of Instruction for John Jacobs' Lesson and Instruction programs at Orange Tree Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2004, Witczak won the Titleist/Foot Joy Assistant Pro Championship. In the 2007 Remax World Long Drive, he finished 13th in the world, with a drive of 404 yards. He captured his first long drive title in 2011, winning the Sife Professional Long Drive Title in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. ...

. In 2011 and 2012 he was runner-up in the Southwest Section Match Play Championship. He qualified for the 2012

PGA Professional National Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a golf tournament for golf club professionals and teachers who are members of the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It has been held by the PGA of America since 1968, when touring professionals spl ...

.Stewart, Jerry
"Dobyns takes lead from Small at PGA Professional National Championship"
''

Monterey Herald ''The Monterey County Herald'', sometimes referred to as the ''Monterey Herald'', is a daily newspaper published in Monterey, California that serves Monterey County. In December, 2013, the Herald's parent company Media News Group merged to become ...

'', June 26, 2012. Retrieved on July 31, 2013.

References

External links

Jason Witczak's Official Website Arenafan.com Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witczak, Jason 1978 births Living people American football placekickers American male golfers American long drive golfers Golfers from Wisconsin Marshall Thundering Herd football players Marshall Thundering Herd men's golfers Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football players Rhein Fire players Barcelona Dragons players Arizona Rattlers players Nashville Kats players Sportspeople from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin