Kirk Tippet Scrafford (born March 13, 1967) 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 an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

for nine 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) for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

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 ...

, and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

. Scrafford 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

Montana Grizzlies The Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz are the nicknames given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana, located in Missoula, Montana, Missoula. The university is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fieldin ...

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

in a school-record 43 consecutive games. He was named an

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 ...

as a senior in 1989. After he graduated from Montana, Scrafford went undrafted, but signed with the Bengals as a free agent. He made his first start as a rookie in the

1990–91 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1990 season began on January 5, 1991. The postseason tournament concluded with the New York Giants defeating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV, 20–19, on January 27, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Fl ...

against the

Los Angeles 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 ...

, where he faced the daunting task of blocking stars like

Greg Townsend Gregory Townsend Sr. (born November 3, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Long Beach City before transferring to TCU and was sel ...

and

Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football for ...

. “I remember Howie said to me, ‘Shouldn't you be playing baseball instead?’” Scrafford said. “LA was an intimidating scene in those days. Everyone in the stands looked like they’d just gotten a ticket out of jail. There were more fights in the stands than there were on the field.” The Bengals lost the game, 20–10, with Long and Townsend racking up a combined total of four sacks. Scrafford played infrequently for the Bengals until 1992. The following year, he joined the Broncos, where he played in all 32 games with them over his two seasons in Denver. In 1995, he joined the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent the remainder of his career. He started 11 games with them in 1995 and all 16 games in 1997 A persistent neck injury eventually bothered him enough that he decided to retire after the 1997 season, but midway through 1998, his 49er teammates talked him into coming back for one more playoff run. Scrafford played in a total of 99 regular season games in the NFL (starting in 52), and 10 games in the playoffs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrafford, Kirk 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Billings, Montana American football offensive linemen Montana Grizzlies football players Cincinnati Bengals players Denver Broncos players San Francisco 49ers players