Steven John McLaughlin (born October 2, 1971) is a former American college and professional football player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) and 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 ...

. He played college football for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

, earned All-American honors and won the

Lou Groza Award The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has ...

. A third-round choice in the 1995 NFL Draft, he played for the NFL's St. Louis Rams, as well as five different Arena League teams over an 11-year career.

Early years

McLaughlin was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Steve McLaughlin
Retrieved February 8, 2012. After playing soccer growing up, he attended Sahuaro High School in Tucson,databaseFootball.com, Players
Steve McLaughlin
. Retrieved February 8, 2012. and played for the Sahuaro Cougars

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

team.

College career

While attending the University of Arizona, McLaughlin played for the Arizona Wildcats football team from 1990 to 1994. As a senior in 1994, he won the Lou Groza Award awarded annually to the outstanding college placekicker in America. He was also recognized as All-Pac-10 and consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

The St. Louis Rams selected McLaughlin in the third round (82nd pick overall), and he played for the Rams for a single season in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

. He appeared in eight games, attempted 16 field goals and completed eight of them; His first official FG was a 27 yarder against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field in the 4th Quarter. The Rams won the game 17–14. He also made a field goal late in the 4th quarter as the Rams went on to beat the Chicago Bears 27–24 in their first meeting that year. He was a perfect 17-of-17 on points after touchdowns. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

and the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

in (NFL Year, 1997). McLaughlin subsequently played for 8 seasons in the AFL with 5 different

teams: the Nashville Kats from 1998 to 2001;

Buffalo Destroyers Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

in 2002; the Georgia Force from 2003 to 2005; the Orlando Predators in 2005; and 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 ...

in 2005. He played in two Arena Bowls with the Nashville Kats and was named 2nd Team All-Arena in 2002 with the Buffalo Destroyers.

Band

McLaughlin formed a band in college named "Pet The Fish" opening for acts such as Weezer and Dave Mathews Band. The band broke Up shortly before his NFL and AFL career however in 2010 released a solo album under the band name "Steve McLaughlin" titled "No More Record Stores." It was mixed by legendary producer Clif Norrell at Casa Zuma Studios in Malibu, CA. One of the tracks circulated on a Right Choice Ford commercial appearing in spots on TV and cinema in the US and Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Steve 1971 births Living people All-American college football players American football placekickers Arizona Wildcats football players Players of American football from Tucson, Arizona St. Louis Rams players Portland Forest Dragons players Nashville Kats players Buffalo Destroyers players Georgia Force players Orlando Predators players Arizona Rattlers players