He told Sweeney, Youve got to take a look at this Norwegian skier out there. Always have, always will., It wasnt easy to overcome a game he still says kills me adding, I didnt want to play any more.. He was the longest-tenured player in the now-defunct American Football League, playing in the league for 19 years. And that first-half miss from 29 yards out? Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. Mark Moseley, who kicked four field goals, had a chance to . The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. Stenerud, who made field goals of 50 yards or more in the pros, normally studied the goal posts before stepping into the ball - saying they looked "narrower" the farther you stood from them. "One day of my junior year in 1964, I ran the stadium steps, and the kicker was kicking field goals. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. I was drafted by Kansas City at the right time. After a pause, Sweeney went on. He was a consensus All-America selection. Well, I didn't know that until Stram pointed it out. His career totals for field goals and points scored still rank in the NFLs Top 20, and he did not miss a game due to injury 263 regular-season contests with the Chiefs, Packers and Vikings from 1967 to 1985. Against archrival Montana, he boomed a 59-yarder, shattering the NCAA record, in a 24-7 win. But Succop wasnt the first young kicker the team had tried. The Kansas City Chiefs were so impressed they selected Stenerud in the third round of the AFL's 1966 Future Draft. I can honestly say that if you havent played football in Green Bay and youve been in the NFL a long time, youve missed out on something special, he said in an interview with Monday Night Football in 2000. The discovery that the star ski jumper (three-time Big Sky champion) was a super football kicker was made, naturally enough, by Montana State's basketball coach, Roger Craft. The diminutive Brazilian who barely spoke English, and learned most of what he knew about American football by playing Madden won the job. Stenerud had attended Montana State on a skiing scholarship and joined the football team as a senior after getting recognized on campus for his kicking ability. Heard you can kick!. The second kick: Thunk! The coach thought I'd do better with my style of kicking. He is the only player to get All-Prohonors in three decades -- the '60s, the '70s and the '80s. In perhaps his toughest day as a professional, Stenerud made a 24-yard field goal in the first quarter, but then missed from 29 and 32 yards, the latter with 35 seconds remaining in regulation, and had a 42-yarder blocked three minutes into overtime. I mentioned Hank earlier, and you know his coaching record, but one thing you don't know about Hank that made the biggest impact on me. Its a special experience. I'm sure someday he'll make one from 60 yardsheck65 yards away. But both of them along with his fiancee Isabelle and his kicking coach Jamie Kohl flew to Kansas City for Butkers Chiefs debut in Week 4: a Monday night game against the Washington Redskins. Yes, he is aware who the Chiefs are playing on Christmas Eve in the 2017 season. He was one of the first placekickers to use the "soccer style", a technique the Hungarian-born Pete Gogolak had recently introduced in the AFL. On one of the other days Jan was running steps, a kicker on the football team practicing on his own encouraged Jan to join him. ", Stram dug around inside the two huge files in his office, grumbled for a moment when the charts eluded his search, finally came up with the prize. He began to laugh. As young adults during the McCarthy Era, many members of this generation felt it was dangerous to speak out. I love you and I appreciate that for the rest of my life. Website design & development by americaneagle.com copyright 2021 Pro Football hall of fame all rights reserved, Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic. There also are a couple of other people I would like to acknowledge that were teammates at Montana State. There are certain occasions in everybody's life that make you think about the people that influenced you the most and helped you. Hes kicking distances I havent seen before, Jan recalled in an interview. When training camp arrived and with Succop due a big payday the team brought in competition: free agent Cairo Santos. He was elected in his first year of eligibility after a pro career in which he converted 373 out of 558 field goals (67%) and 580 out of 601 extra points (97%) for a total of 1,699 points scored. Though it wasnt his best in terms of accuracy, Steneruds 1983 season might have been his finest in Green Bay. Jokingly, he tried anothersoccer-styleoff his instep. For 27 of those seasons from 1967 through 1993 the Chiefs had only two placekickers: Jan Stenerud and Nick Lowery. Whos the richest Football Player in the world. He was one of the winningest coaches in all of college football. They had great players when I got there. Your request appears similar to malicious requests sent by robots. Im so used to seeing Carolina blue and Panthers stuff having been in Charlotte and now its red, which is weird, having gone to Georgia Tech.. Please make sure JavaScript is enabled and then try loading this page again. NOW: So I'm talkin' to Jan Stenerud, the Hall of Fame kicker, . So on a blustery day with the punter struggling, Sweeney sent out the field goal unit to get the ball downfield from out of its own end zone. Clark Hunt, Mark Donovan need to listen | Opinion, Couple stops at gas station for Michigan lottery tickets. Jan stayed in college and was a key member of a Bobcats team that won the 1966 Big Sky Conference title. During his first three years as professional, the last seasons for the AFL, Stenerud hit 70% of his field goals, compared with a 53% average for the other kickers in the AFL and NFL. Shortly after receiving a recruitment letter from Montana State Bobcats ski coach Bob Beck, Jan Stenerud set foot on American soil to begin his college athletic career. He got me started in this great American game, and Coach, without your enthusiasm, your intensity and desire to win, obviously I wouldn't be here today. He is the first pure placekicker to be. This story was originally published May 13, 2017, 4:50 PM. In 2013, Stenerud recalled that he had a significant tail-wind aiding him on that kick in Bozeman; the ensuing kick-off went over the end-zone bleachers at Gatton Field, whose elevation exceeded 4,900 feet (1,495 . I'd be better off to get rid of all those small and foolish things. Robert Holmes 3 yard rush (Jan Stenerud kick) 3: 7: 2: Chiefs: Jan Stenerud 52 yard field goal : 3: 10: Chiefs: Jan Stenerud 8 yard field goal : 3: 13: 3: Bills: Bruce Alford 34 yard field goal : 6: 13: . In the AFL, Jan made his first kick a 54-yard field goal in the 1967 season opener against Houston. A reader suggestion gives us a great opportunity to reflect on Jan Steneruds brief but excellent run in Green Bay. Ski jumping requires concentration and, of course, kicking field goals requires concentration as well. Team Stats. Jan holds the record for career field goals, 373. With 1,699 points, he ranked behind only the fabled George Blanda in all-time scoring at the time of his retirement. And it. He kicked only one field goal from beyond 50 yards - a 53-yarder in the fourth quarter of a 37-3 loss at Tampa Bay in 1981 - but he was 59-of-73, or 80.8 percent overall, and also made 115-of-118. Enshrined in 1991, Stenerud, along with George Blanda, Lou Groza, Ray Guy, and 2017 inductee Morten Andersen, is one of only five kicking specialists in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is one of three who did not play another position (Blanda played quarterback, Groza was a tackle). He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 as the first exclusive placekicker to receive the honor. Oops. This one could hurt.. I did. Quiz Considering he still blames himself, he cant blame you if you think of him for that missed kick. He attended Montana State University on a ski jumping scholarship. We liked him coming out. Since Butker came to the Chiefs in the middle of the 2017 season and came into his own in the midst of a season well forever remember as The Season of Mahomes we probably havent devoted enough attention to his story in these pages. Super Bowl IV and some of the great coaching with Hank Stram, of course, who won the Coach of the Year title four times. Every day he had me out there kicking 50 ballsand he was doing all the holding. He influenced the Rules Committee to change the field goal and kickoff rules in 1974, his seventh year in the league. Late in my career, in 1980 when everybody else in the league thought I was washed up, Bart Starr, the great player and then the coach for the Green Bay Packers, took a chance on me, and that paved the way for six more years for me in the league. Jan Stenerud (/stnrud/, Norwegian:[stnrd] (listen); born November 26, 1942) is a Norwegian-American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with Kansas City Chiefs. Most positions require skill, strength, speed, intelligence and mental toughness. If the opportunity knocks, who knows what could happen?. I remember it so well. hurtful thing." (When The New York Times called to ask Stenerud about the kick a year . On top of the list we put together, our readers suggested a few great names in the comments. Then he was hit hard after kicking a field goal in the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. And Bart, I assume you are listening somewhere,I appreciate that very much. Jan Stenerud made a stop in Minocqua, Wisconsin, in 2012. When is Jan Steneruds birthday? A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fames Class of 1991, Jan was the first pure placekicker someone who didnt also play another position to be enshrined. He knows a lot more than I know. If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. His status then was the same as any five-year redshirt. It was supposed to be a fake, with the ball snapped directly to Stenerud. "One day I was in school on a ski scholarship, the next I was on the football team. In his first collegiate season, Jan connected on seven field goals more than the Bobcats had converted in the previous three seasons combined. Still Salvy after all these years: Stolen base symbolizes Sal Perezs endless energy, Jackson Mahomes accused of assault by Overland Park restaurant owner and waiter, Is Travis Kelce Chiefs most eligible bachelor? I didn't know the first thing about a soccer-style kicker. They went something like this: "4 out of 5, 25-yard line, right hash mark; 5-5, 25, middle; 5-5, 25, left; 4-5, 40, right; 5-5, 40, middle; 5-5, 40, left; 4-5, 50, left; 4-5, 50, middle; 3-5, 50, right. As a 24-year-old, I would love to line up against anybody in the league (now) and kick the football, Stenerud said, smiling as he recovers from a broken kneecap from a recent fall. $224.99. And in the meantime, some of my teammates at Montana State had informed me that they see a guy on television from the Buffalo Bills, Pete Gogolak, who had been kicking in the same style that I had displayed, and they also had convinced me to go out for the team. And look at this: 136 out of 153. Meanwhile, even his troubles that day are routinely oversimplified in the shorthand of scapegoating. Hes got a strong leg. Eighteen of them were for Montana State, the most spectacular of which was a 59-yarder, an NCAA small college record later broken by Bill Shear of Cortland State. Late in his sophomore year, Stenerud was spotted kicking a football by the college's basketball coach, who relayed the news of the Norwegian's abilities to the football coach. [1][2] In the fall of 1964, Stenerud was training for the upcoming ski season by running the stadium steps of Gatton Field, the football venue through 1971. I wasn't really sure if I had done OKor not. To make the sea change clear, compare those figures to the career numbers of Jan Stenerud, who remains the only player enshrined in the Hall of Fame solely for his placekicking abilities.. The result was that Stenerud became a football player. "I was standing three feet deep in my own end zone," he said, his mouth curving into a small boy's grin. And while that may be true, Steneruds story might be worth bringing him through our hypothetical time portal. I had to read that about three times before I understood it. Jan Stenerud Net Worth "But it was me it helped, not Jan. Stenerud had played soccer as a youth in Norway, and his right leg's prowess was observed by basketball head coach Roger Craft, while he walked to the nearby Fieldhouse. Stenerud was a six-time all-star (four NFL Pro Bowls and two AFL All-Star games) during his career, as well as a four-time first-team All-Pro in the NFL and a two-time first-team All-AFL. An example - Stram played percentages having Stenerud try a FG near end of regulation, 1971 playoff game vs MIA (Jan made Pro Bowl over Yepremian that year but the Dolphin actually had the better season.) But the most glaring and, thus, lingering elements were three field goals that Stenerud didnt make, something that over the years he has alternately attempted to joke about, expressed incredible pain over or declined comment on. He talks, and he knows exactly what went wrong when [the placekicker] misses. Jan Stenerud, who was born November 26, 1942, in Fetsund, Norway, was an outstanding ski jumper who attended Montana State on a skiing scholarship. newsletter, before giving way to 18-year veteran John Carney, learned most of what he knew about American football by playing, overtime kick against the Broncos in Denver, placed Santos on injured reserve and plucked Harrison Butker off the practice squad, more accurate at long distances than medium distances, Toub told the media after Butkers first game, scored a four-year, $17 million deal with the Panthers last spring, Butker and his wife Isabelle informed the world. He was enjoying life in America immensely, fascinated by all things unfamiliar, including a peculiar sport played with an oval ball (as he put it). Why I could miss that kick, I dont understand it If I can make a goddamn 31-yard field goal, we win the game, he said, So I hold myself completely accountable for that. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. It gives me, of course, a sense of pride and accomplishment, but most of all I feel very, very lucky. Stenerud kicked 18 of 33 field goals in two years at MSU. CelebsMoney has recently updated Jan Steneruds net worth. He went out for spring practice in 1965 and made the team the following fall. Gambling problem? Jan Stenerud is a Football Player, zodiac sign: Sagittarius. If your browser is out of date, try updating it. When the great kicker, Jan Stenerud was set to attempt a relatively short range field goal that, if good (ode to announcer broadcasting great, Lindsey Nelson) would have yielded a K.C. Is Butker finally the right man for the job? The 1980s were a crazy time for America and its institutions. He went on to help us become one of the winningest teams in the National Football League with two divisional championships, three playoffs and a Super Bowl win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Jan Steneruds age is 80. Once they saw Stenerud kick, all doubts were erased. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. In a perfect world, Stenerud would have scored a touchdown behind the two guards who had pulled. Well, why not? Stenerud retired after the 1985 season, his 19th (3 AFL, 16 NFL). The Chiefs had 79-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud out at practice on Thursday. Not so, he says. That day, he was cooling down from a workout by kicking a football with injured halfback Dale Jackson. Thank you, American football, for giving me this truly unbelievable moment.