Richard Craig Danmeier (born April 8, 1952) 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 six seasons with the

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

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

Sioux Falls Cougars The Sioux Falls Cougars are the athletic teams that represent the University of Sioux Falls, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing the Northern Sun Intercol ...

. Danmeier attended

White Bear Lake High School White Bear Lake Area High School (abbreviated WBLAHS) is a high school in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, United States. The school was formed by merging White Bear High School (WBHS) and White Bear Mariner High School in the 1983–84 school year. It ...

, in a suburb of

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

. He later attended Lakewood State Junior College, and then Sioux Falls College (now the University of Sioux Falls), where he played college football. Danmeier tried out for the Vikings in 1976, then caught on with them in 1977, appearing in one game and kicking off one time, after which he was placed injured reserve due to an injury to his hand, in which his finger was amputated. His best season was 1981, when he missed only two

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 ...

from inside the 40, and converted on 21 of 25 field goal attempts. He appeared in nine games for the Vikings in 1982, his last season with the team. Danmeier was one of the last kickers to employ the straight-on style of kicking. His 1983 season came to an abrupt end late in the preseason when he suffered a herniated disk in his back that required surgery, and he was placed on injured reserve. He returned in 1984, attempting to win his job back, but the Vikings had also brought in Hall of Fame soccer-style kicker, future Hall of Famer

Jan Stenerud Jan Stenerud (, ; born November 26, 1942) is a Norwegian-American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs ...

to compete with Rick and Benny Ricardo (the kicker from the previous season) and Stenerud won the competition. Danmeier's inactivity left

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

kicker

Mark Moseley Mark DeWayne Moseley (born March 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played for Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971–72) ...

as the only remaining full-time placekicker in the NFL to employ the style; all NFL kickers today employ the "soccer-style", in which the kicker approaches the ball at an angle and kicks it with the instep, which was first introduced by the Hungarian brothers

Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a characte ...

and

Charlie Gogolak Charles Paul Gogolak (in Hungarian: ''Gogolák Károly Pál'', born December 29, 1944) is a Hungarian former player of American football who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). The sixth overall selection of the 1966 NFL ...

. Danmeier was inducted to the University of Sioux Falls Cougars hall of fame in 2000. He works as a sales representative in sporting goods.

References

1952 births Living people Players of American football from Saint Paul, Minnesota American football placekickers University of Sioux Falls people Minnesota Vikings players Sioux Falls Cougars football players {{Amfoot-kicker-stub