Stephen James O'Neal (born February 4, 1946) 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 ...

punter and a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. O'Neal is best known for kicking a 98-yard punt during the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) game between the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and

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 ...

on September 21, 1969. This punt set the record for the longest punt in AFL and NFL history. He finished his career with 337 punts for 13,725 yards and a 40.7 yards per punt average.

Professional career

O'Neal was selected in the 13th round, pick 21 of the 1969

Common draft The common draft was the selection of college football players in a combined draft from 1967 to 1969 by the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). This took place after the AFL-NFL merger agreement in 1966. From 1 ...

by the AFL's

. O'Neal was traded by the Jets to the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

before the 1973 season along with backup

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Bob Davis in exchange for wide receiver

Margene Adkins Margene Adkins (born April 30, 1947) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. He also was a member of the Ottawa Rough Riders in t ...

and punter Julian Fagan. Jets' coach

Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank ( ; May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in J ...

said of the trade that "We've been disappointed with our punting game which is the reason for this trade," although Fagan only lasted one year with the Jets. He set a career-high with 81 punts in his final season for the New Orleans Saints in 1973. After struggling during the 1974 preseason, he was waived by the Saints before the 1974 regular season began and replaced by Donnie Gibbs, who himself was waived after the first regular season game and replaced by Tom Blanchard.

References

1946 births Living people People from Hearne, Texas American football punters American football wide receivers Texas A&M Aggies football players New York Jets players New Orleans Saints players American Football League players Players of American football from Bryan, Texas {{widereceiver-1940s-stub

Professional career

See also

References