Michael Christopher Luckhurst (born March 31, 1958) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

retired

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 ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Sp ...

. One of the earliest British-born players in NFL history, he played his entire professional career with the Atlanta Falcons.

Early life

Luckhurst was born on March 31, 1958 in

Redbourn Redbourn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, lying on Watling Street, from Harpenden, from St Albans and from Hemel Hempstead. The civil parish had a population of 5,113 according to the 2011 Census. The three tiers of ...

, Hertfordshire. He attended

St Columba's College, St Albans St Columba's College is a co-educational 4–18 private, Catholic day school and sixth form in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in 1939 by Phillip O’Neil and taken over by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1955. It is a m ...

in his home county (an academy equivalent to elementary plus high school in the USA). He then attended Balls Park teacher college in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

. As an exchange student to

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximatel ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

he decided to try out for the football team as part of a thesis project, and was soon impressing the coaches with 60+ yard field goals. Eventually he landed at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, where he starred in rugby as well as American football. Luckhurst was a full back and key player in leading the

Cal Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club team ...

to their first national collegiate rugby title in 1980, making 14 of 17 penalty kicks and 18 of 19 conversions during the season. He was the MVP in title game against the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

, when he scored on two penalty kicks and a drop kick, accounting for 9 of Cal's 15 points in their come-from-behind win. Also according to an opponent in the championship game, "On several occasions he chased down one of our kicks and just before being tackled by our wing, kicked the ball backward over his head about 30 meters and into touch. Really frustrating." In football, he scored 60 points in each of his two seasons 1979 and 1980. He also held the record for the longest field goal in California history for many years, a 54-yard boot against Oregon State in 1979.

NFL career

Luckhurst joined the Atlanta Falcons in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

as an undrafted free agent. His first professional field goal was in the exhibition Hall of Fame game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in August 1981. Eventually he beat out

Tim Mazzetti Timothy Alan Mazzetti (born February 1, 1956 in Old Greenwich, Connecticut) is a former National Football League placekicker from 1978–1980) for the Atlanta Falcons. He later played with the Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers of the Unit ...

, who himself was a successful former free agent. Luckhurst went on to make the Professional Football Writer's all-rookie team. He remained with the team until the

1987 NFL season The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. This season featured games predominantly played by replacement players, as the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) players were on strike ...

. Luckhurst scored a rushing touchdown on a fake field goal for the team in their January 1983 playoff game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

, the only rushing attempt of his career. At the time of his retirement, Luckhurst was the team's all-time leading scorer with 558 points.

Retirement

After his playing days, Luckhurst became the face of American Football coverage on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in his native UK between 1987 and 1991. Conversely, he was also an analyst for the American TV station

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

during its coverage of the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being M ...

. On 26 October 2014, Luckhurst was part of the ceremonial coin toss at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

as the Atlanta Falcons faced the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

in an International Series game.

References

Living people 1958 births People from Redbourn English players of American football American football placekickers California Golden Bears football players Atlanta Falcons players Association football commentators People educated at St Columba's College, St Albans Footballers who switched code St. Cloud State University alumni {{Amfoot-kicker-stub