Jeff Todd Jaeger (born November 26, 1964) 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 ...

player who was 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 ...

for 12 seasons 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) during the 1980s and 1990s. Jaeger 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

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

, earning

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors. In the NFL, he played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Jaeger was born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. He was a standout kicker for

Kent-Meridian High School Kent-Meridian High School is a public high school located in Kent, Washington, United States. It is one of four high schools in the Kent School District, along with Kentlake High School, Kentridge High School and Kentwood High School. As of 2 ...

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 Unit ...

. Jaeger was not offered scholarships out of high school and chose to walk on the football team at the University of Washington.

College career

At Washington, Jaeger took over for outgoing All-American

Chuck Nelson Charles LaVerne Nelson (born February 23, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Nelson played college football for the Washington Huskies, earnin ...

in 1983 and earned Honorable Mention in the AP's All-America team as a freshman. Jaeger would repeat as an AP honorable mention All-America selection in his sophomore season. Following Jaeger's junior year he was selected as a 2nd Team All-American by

Football News ''The Football News'', founded in 1939, was a weekly tabloid newspaper covering collegiate and professional football. The publication was designated by the NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organizati ...

. Following his senior season, in which the Huskies went 8–3–1, Jaeger was a consensus All-American, selected as a 1st Team All-American by both the AP and

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. Jaeger is still the all-time Washington Husky scoring leader with 358 points. He held the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record with 80 career

field goals 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, a ...

until it was broken in 2003 by Billy Bennett of

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(Jaeger finished with 21 more field goals than the second leading kicker in

Husky Husky is a general term for a type of dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies ...

history). In his senior season, Jaeger converted 17 of 21 field goal attempts, including six of seven of 40 yards or more, as well as converting 42 of 43 extra point tries.

Professional career

The Cleveland Browns selected Jaeger in the third round (82nd pick overall) of the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

. He played for the Browns for a single season in . In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season, Jaeger broke all of the Browns rookie scoring records with 75 points despite playing in only ten games. His record for most field goal attempts by a rookie in a game was tied in 2017 by

Zane Gonzalez Zane Holden Fortunato Gonzalez (born May 7, 1995) is an American professional football placekicker. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, finishing as the NCAA Division I leader in field goals made at the time prior to be ...

. Jaeger was voted to his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

in 1991. He tied the Raiders franchise record for longest field goal with a 54-yarder in 1992 which was broken in 2011 by

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...

with a 63 yard field goal. In 1993, he led the NFL in scoring and set a new Raider record with 132 points. That same year he also led the NFL in complete field goals and tied the all-time NFL mark for field goal attempts. During a game against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Jaeger kicked a 53-yard field goal to win the game. His kick was seemingly low and yet managed to cross the uprights. Jaeger led the Raiders in scoring during five consecutive seasons and consistently ranked in the top ten in the league in scoring. Jaeger eventually spent his last years with the

. In 1999, Jaeger injured his hip, and was released, but was then re-signed two days later.

Personal life

Jaeger is married and has two daughters. He also volunteered as a kicking consultant at Eastlake High School.

NFL career statistics

''Career high/best bolded''

References