Who misses straight on placekickers?

[foreverfree]

Jim Turner
Jim Bakken
Steve Myhra
Lou Groza
Mark Moseley (though he wasn't as hunky as the others I listed)

Correct me if I made a mistake. And feel free to add other straight on placekickers.

Who wishes there were still straight-on, non-soccer-style placekickers here and there in football?

This calls to mind something that Tim Green wrote about in The Dark Side of the Game, something about PKs and punters merely being soccer players in pads and helmets, treated as outcasts by the rest of the team unless and until they come through in the clutch.

John

 

[jaxvid]

I think the straight on kickers have an advantage close in to the goal line as their kicks get up and over much better then soccer style, much harder to block.

It would be interesting to see some kickers like that nowadays as everyone is bigger and stronger, I bet they could kick it a mile. Remember Tom Dempsey? 63 yards with half a foot!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I miss the straight on kickers, but I think the soccer style is the way to go at long range. It would be nice to see a straight on kicker who could kick it 45 yards with some accuracy.Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Don Wassall]

I remember when Jim Bakken kicked 7 field goals in a game against the Steelers. That was an NFL record, and I think it still is.


One of the few ways football players from the present and past can be fairly compared is kicking accuracy. The soccer style kickers are a lot more accurate than the straight-on kickers were.

 

[Freedom]

Tom Dempsey's half a foot gave him an advantage I heard because his stub fit the football.

I played soccer before I played football so I can kick a football soccer style 25-35 yards. But I think staright on kicking is easier to learn.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Tom Dempsey's special shoe helped him with kicking, no doubt. Still, it was fun to see him kick. I really like watching the old college games with the straight on kickers.

 

[JoeV]

What about the old barefoot kickers ala Tony Franklin of the Patriots?

Edited by: JoeV

 

[Kaptain]

Rick Danmeyer (sp?) one of the last - played for the Vikings.

Who was the last?

 

[Colonel_Reb]

According to the left leaning, but sometimes asccurate wikipedia, it was Mark Moseley.

He was born in 1948 and played for the Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971-1972), the Washington Redskins (1974-1986), and the Cleveland Browns (1986). He was the last straight-on placekicker kicker in the NFL. He is the only kicker in NFL history to win the Most Valuable Player Award; he did so in the strike-shortened 1982 season. His team (the Redskins) went on to defeat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, in no small part due to Moseley, who kicked 2 field goals in the game and made all 3 of his extra point attempts. The Redskins went back to the Super Bowl the following season, facing the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII, but this time they were blown out 38-9, at the time the most lopsided score in Super Bowl history. Moseley's field goal in the first quarter was the only points for the Redskins in the first half. Then in the second half they scored a touchdown, but Moseley's extra point was blocked and they did not score again for the rest of the game.

Moseley left the Redskins as their all time leading scorer with 1,206 points in the middle of the 1986 season, finishing the year with the Browns and retiring after the season ended at age 38. In his 16 NFL seasons, Moseley kicked 300 out of 457 field goals (65%), 482 out of 512 extra points (94%), and scored a total of 1,382 points.

Before his NFL career, Moseley played for Stephen F. Austin University and Texas A&M University.

 

[Bart]

Who was the last?

I think Shoeless Joe Jackson was the lastbarefoot kicker. No, he was kicked out of baseball. Great name for a barefoot kicker though.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Just found some more info that might interest a few of you. Steve Cox of the Washington Redskins kicked the last straight on field goal in the NFL in 1987. Cox was a punter who also kicked off and occasionally kicked long field goals.

 

[Don Wassall]

Jim Bakken

Lou Groza

Tom Dempsey's 63-yarder in 1970

Tom Dempsey's feet

 

[Bart]

I didn't realize kickingthe ol' pigskinfor several years could wear a foot down that drastically.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Here's a cool article I found when trying to find info on Steve Cox.
Cardinals' Rackers achieved in a game what few have done in a season
Posted: Wednesday October 27, 2004
Neil Rackers kicks his second 55-yard field goal against the Seahawks.AP

Cards PK Neil Rackers accomplished in the span of two minutes what no NFL kicker in 11 years had done in a season. Note that Punter Scott Player is in the picture. He could end up being the last NFL player to wear a single bar facemask.

Rackers, who received the ultimate NFL insult when he was released last September by the Bengals, kicked a 55-yard field goal against the Seahawks with 3:01 left in the second quarter of their game Sunday in Tempe.

Then -- after rookie LB Karlos Dansby intercepted Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck -- Rackers kicked another 55-yarder, this one with 1:01 left in the second quarter.

It had been 11 years since any NFL kicker hit two 55-yarders in any season, but Rackers -- whose career field goal percentage of .686 entering the game was the worst among all active kickers with 20 or more career attempts -- made two 55-yarders within 121 seconds of each other.

The last NFL kicker with two field goals of 55 yards or more in a season was Bears PK Kevin Butler, who made 55-yarders against the Vikings on Oct. 25, 1993 and against the Buccaneers on Dec. 12, 1993.

The last kicker to boot two 55-yarders in any month was Steve Cox of the Redskins, who in 1986 made a 55-yarder against the Eagles on Sept. 7 and a 57-yarder against Seattle 14 days later.

The only kicker in NFL history to make three 55's in a season was Broncos PK Fred Steinfort, who in 1980 made a 57-yarder against the Redskins, a 55-yarder against the Seahawks in Seattle and a 55-yarder against Dallas. That's two at altitude and one in a dome, so he gets a Barry Bonds-like asterisk. Oddly, those were the only field goals of 55 or more yards Steinfort ever made in his eight-year career.

Only 16 kickers in NFL history have kicked more than one 55-yard field goal in their career. And only Cox, Steinfort, Butler, Giants PK Ali Haji-Sheikh (1983) and Redskins PK Chip Lohmiller (1990) had done it twice in a season.

Rackers made as many 55-yarders in two minutes Sunday than the entire league made from Week 14 of 1998 through Week 4 of 2001.

He made more 55-yard field goals in the last three minutes of the second quarter than every placekicker in the league made in 1978, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 or 2001.

Rackers' pair of 55-yard kicks Sunday are the only field goals of 55 or more yards in the NFL since Nov. 2, 2003, when Raiders PK Sebastian Janikowski made a 55-yarder against the Lions in Detroit and they're only outdoor 55-yarders in more than a year -- since Seahawks PK Josh Brown converted from 58 yards out against the Packers in Green Bay.

Strangely, Rackers in his career has been more accurate from beyond 50 yards (73 percent) than from 40 to 49 yards (50 percent) or even 30 to 49 yards (66 percent). In fact, statistically, he is more likely to connect from beyond 50 yards than inside 50 yards (69 percent).

Which tells us if the Cards are lining up for a short field goal, they may as well commit a couple personal fouls to get into Rackers' range.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Steve Cox
Position: K/P
Height: 6' 4'' Weight: 195
Born: 5/11/1958, in Shreveport, LA, USA
High School: Charleston (AR)
College: Arkansas

Looks like he kicked a 40 yarder sometime in 1987. That was the last successful straight on FG in the NFL. I wish there was a picture of it, but I can't even find a picture of Cox himself.

 

[foreverfree]

Was Steve Cox a strike player?

And closer to the topic, to clarify, I'd like to see an occasional straight-on kicker just for the heck of it.

John

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Steve Cox was a punter who kicked some in his career, which ended in 1988. He played since 81, so he was not a strike player. I agree in seeing a straight on kicker every once in a while. I do know of a couple of straight on high school kickers in Mississippi.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Don, I just saw your post with the Jim Bakken picture. What year was that taken in? This could be one of the last times a kicker did not use a chin strap. I see it dangling from one side. I know of some guys who did not use them until 1971. I would be curious to know if this was after 71. Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Southern Knight]

Let's not forget Jan Stenerud -- he played 47 seasons in the NFL, and retired at the age of 69 (or something like that). Joking.

 

[foreverfree]

Wasn't Stenerud soccer style? And I think Groza played a "regular" position as well but is remembered as a PK. But I can't remember the position.

John

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Yeah, Stenerud was one of the first soccer style kickers, while Groza was a straight on kciker who played tackle. He was a 6 time All Pro tackle at that.

 

[devans]

Out of the Kickers currently playing, or recently retired, who is actually the best special teams player?
Who had some speed and agility and could tackle and cover etc? There was an Australian punter whose name I can't remember who was pretty good.

 

[Guest]

Out of the Kickers currently playing, or recently retired, who is actually the best special teams player?
Who had some speed and agility and could tackle and cover etc? There was an Australian punter whose name I can't remember who was pretty good.

Brian Moorman (buffalo punter) was in the NFL fastest man sprint at this years proball skills challenege. He didn't win but was only a step behind the eventual winner.

 

[white is right]

Yeah i saw him run down a kick returner and thought it was a fluke(to a point). He definately has wheels for a non-returner....

 

[Freedom]

Moorman obviously lacks the fast twitch muscle fibers to play other positions though. He is allowed to play in the NFL due to racism because the coaches want to keep the fans happy.

Seriously though, shouldn't this guy get a shot at another position if he wants to? If he can run fast enough, couldn't he play wide receiver or safety?

Maybe he wouldn't want to. But this guy was a state champion 110 meter hurdler! Aren't there other white guys with such speed that can't throw nor punt? I guess not if most of the fast white guys are QBs and kickers.Edited by: Freedom