Wade Lanier Traynham (born February 3, 1942) 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

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

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 ...

Frederick College Frederick College was a former four-year private co-educational college from 1958 to 1968 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The college was created in through a grant from the Fred W. Beazley Foundation (now the Beazley Foundation). It originally opened ...

, but was "dismissed from the student body at Frederick College for disciplinary reasons."

NFL career

Wade Traynham was a kicker for the

in 1966 and 1967 after previously having kicked for the semi-pro Savannah Chiefs. He appeared in only 2 games in 1966, but was the Falcons' regular kicker in 1967. Although he was 0 for 1 on field goal attempts in 1966, and only 7 for 18 in 1967, he made all 24 extra point attempts in his career (22 of them in 1967). The Falcons traded Traynham to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

on July 30, 1968 in exchange for offensive lineman

Steve Duich Steven John Duich (born February 28, 1946) is an American former professional football guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. He played college football at San Diego State University. NFL c ...

, who the Packers had taken in the 5th round of the 1968 draft. But after going 1 for 4 on field goal attempts in three preseason games, the Packers cut Traynham on August 26, 1968.

The whiff that wasn't

Legend has it that Traynham was kicking off in the Falcons' very first pre-season game, and completely whiffed on the kick—a harbinger of tough days ahead for the Falcons. Traynham debunked the story in a 1999 interview. Traynham said the play in question was not in the Falcons' preseason debut, but in their second regular season game, against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He said, "I never whiffed the ball, I just slipped planting my foot...But I got a little piece of the ball as I went down. It wound up being a perfect onside kick and we got it back." However, Traynham strained a thigh muscle on the play and did not kick the rest of the season.

Post-NFL life

Traynham coached football from 1981-1984 for Phoebus High School in his home town of Hampton, Virginia. He was later softball coach at the school.Wood, ibid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traynham, Wade 1942 births Living people American football placekickers Atlanta Falcons players Frederick Lions athletes Players of American football from Hampton, Virginia