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: . Jan Stenerud (born November 26, 1942) is a former professional football player for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs (1967-1969), and the NFL's Chiefs (1970-1979), Green Bay Packers (1980-1983), and Minnesota Vikings (1984-1985). Shoeless. Stram sighed; there was a hitch. He was a great competitor, and no one was better than Jan when the game was on the line. In 1984, the Packers traded Stenerud to the Minnesota Vikings for a seventh-round draft choice. When we got to Houston I got a special pair of shoes. Jan was the most accurate kicker in all of pro football from '80 to '84; hemade 82% of this field goals. "One day I was in school on a ski scholarship, the next I was on the football team. Passing, Rushing, & Receiving Table . I will also be grateful for the opportunity to play professional football." He also worked as a commentator for Scandinavian TV channel TV3's Super Bowl Sunday coverage in the 1990s, and still maintains strong ties with his native Norway. 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. At Montana State I had a coach, I mentioned him earlier, but I need to recognize him more. Baw Bakery. Stenerud came to the United States on a ski jumping scholarship to attend . Now how in the hell was I going to help him if he ever got in a slump if I didn't know what he was doing? I did. Kemp will join new Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy in the nations capital. They used skills learned in one sport--soccer -- to become successful in another -- football. Meanwhile, back in Kansas City, the Chiefs had drafted Justin Medlock in the fifth round. To keep in shape for the ski season, I would always run the stadium steps at Montana State to get ready for the long, hard ski season, and the football team was always practicing. After a pause, Sweeney went on. With 1,699 points, he ranked behind only the fabled George Blanda in all-time scoring at the time of his retirement. Three months later, he signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he stayed with for four seasons. So he snapped it to a surprised Dawson, and the out-of-rhythm Stenerud tried to adjust but missed. As a high-school youngster in Norway, before accepting the ski-jumping scholarship to Montana State, he had been listed as one of the country's most promising young soccer players. 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. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. 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.. George and Lou, your talents were remarkable. Tommy O'Boyle, our Director of Player Personnel, and I went to the game and watched him kick the opening kickoff through the uprights and eight rows into the bleachers. Soon, the Norwegian who came here by way of a skiing scholarship at Montana State prepared for his first Chiefs camp by kicking with coach Hank Stram as his personal holder at the teams facility in Swope Park. I am, of course, aware that I am the first person elected to this great shrine based on kicking alone. People born on a Thursday are naturally well-meaning and open. ", Coach Stram wouldn't want Stenerud to drop a single silly superstition. Players for the Eagles, Broncos, Rams, and Steelers were all known to kick off their shoes before kicking off the game (except for the Rams - their kicker always wore shoes on kickoffs). In training camp, Butker had a tough battle against veteran kicker Graham Gano and ultimately the Panthers couldnt decide. We have Bobby Bell, a great linebacker, Len Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier and, of course, our owner Lamar Hunt, who is also in the Hall of Fame. $224.99. They have AstroTurf there and we worked out on it. See our ethics statement. He was named the Outstanding Offensive Player in the 1972 Pro Bowl. When no deal could be made, the Panthers cut Butker, held their breath and placed him on their practice squad after he cleared waivers. The truth is, more than four decades later, Stenerud can vividly recall the circumstances of his MSU conversion from Nordic ski jumper to future Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker. But Stenerud made the most of those opportunities. Your email address will not be published. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Tommy O'Boyle, our Director of Player Personnel, and I went to the game and watched him kick the opening kickoff through the uprights and eight rows into the bleachers. What do you want me to do?" Dave Rayner came in and lasted 10 games before giving way to 18-year veteran John Carney to finish the 2007 season. After the 23-7 victory, Minnesota defensive end Carl Eller pronounced Stenerud the true most valuable player of the game. Fifty years ago this month, an exotic curiosity named Jan Stenerud signed a lease at the El Camino Real apartments on The Plaza. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, Young man, what are you doing tomorrow?. said Stram, jabbing a finger at the charts. He made another that day, but the Chiefs had seen enough. Butker is now well-established as the Chiefs placekicker, and its wouldnt be a stretch to think the Chiefs will do their best to hang on to him when his rookie contract expires in 2021. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Down went the ball. Member since Aug 2006. He quickly noticed that he booted it farther than the team's kicker. And the third and the fourth. Stenerud, the Kansas City . AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. He can, he says,. It's all his own natural ability. We are all very, very proud of you, Jan. Good luck and God bless. We look forward to getting him in there and seeing how he does., That whole week was probably the strangest week of my life, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I'm sure someday he'll make one from 60 yardsheck65 yards away. While Santos got off to a rough start, eventually he became an effective (and popular) placekicker, becoming the most accurate field goal kicker in team history, making 84.8 percent of his field-goal attempts. Its a perfect example of why you should never try and stash a good kicker on your NFL practice squad. Does all that add up to a player worth swapping for Mason Crosby? 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 kicked a 59-yard field goal against the Grizzlies at Gatton Field that fall, and eventually set NCAA kick scoring and field goal . The next year, though, he took college football by storm. Something went wrong. According to USA Todays story on the 2017 Redskins game, Colquitt made the difference after Butkers first miss in the NFL. My dad, who passed away two years ago, always had ambitious dreams and goals, while my mother had always been a realist. His last kick flew 60 yards, cleared the crossbar by five feet. Lawrence Tynes had the job from 2004 through 2006 but was traded to the New York Giants in 2007. "But I didn't know what a future was. This story was originally published May 13, 2017, 4:50 PM. I love you and I appreciate that for the rest of my life. And though its hardly the headline in the overall scope of a wild game, Stenerud did kick the game-winner in the Packers 48-47 Monday Night Football romp with the Washington Redskins that year. He was a consensus All-America selection. Jan Stenerud was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. He scored 100 or more points in seven different seasons. There isn't a doubt in my mind that he's the greatest long-distance field-goal kicker who ever played the game. "Did you notice that the charts showed I was missing mostly from the right hash mark? Jan Stenerud attended Montana State University. The basketball coach, of all people, walked across the field and he ran over to the football coach, Jim Sweeney, and informed him that a ski jumper was kicking the hell out of the ball out there. 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. 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. I had gone to a couple of games, but my girl [now Loni Stenerud] had to explain what was happening." On top of the list we put together, our readers suggested a few great names in the comments. Gano was great in 2017 but the Panthers could have had a kicker at $1.935M for the next 3 seasons (2018-2020) if Harrison Butker had been kept instead. 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. [9][10] Through 2017, the game remains the longest in NFL history at 82 minutes, 40 seconds of playing time, and was also the final football game in Municipal Stadium. Hes a good kicker. Mark Moseley, who kicked four field goals, had a chance to . They have one thing in common, however;Jan is named on all of them. I wasn't really familiar with the game, but I guess I did OKbecause Coach Sweeney tried to convince me to go out for spring football the next year, which I did. He was released immediately. But it was me it helped, not Jan, Stram told Sports Illustrated in 1968 as he rummaged through files for charts of those kicks. Like snapping my helmet before a third-down play ends. He was an All-American ski jumper on a ski scholarship. Team Stats. The second kick: Thunk! The excitement of the Chiefs-Raiders contests. By 2014, Succop had been solid if not great for the Chiefs over five seasons. Wearing tennis shoes, Jans first attempts straight-on, as was the style of the era were lousy, and painful, so Jan changed his approach to match his soccer-playing background. The 18 successive seasons, a Super Bowl ring and the Hall of Fame-worthy resum all trace their history to one fateful day in the mountains. Jan Stenerud. But for the Panthers, thats all spilt milk. Jan Stenerud (, stenrd born November 26, 1942) is a Norwegian former professional American football player for the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs (19671969), and the NFL's Chiefs (19701979), Green Bay Packers (19801983), and Minnesota Vikings (19841985). "What do you call that?" While his field-goal percentage of 66.8 (373 of 558) might seem pedestrian today, he was a revelation in the context of the times. Butker might also have been fortunate to land with the Chiefs, with whom Dustin Colquitt would be holding his kicks, and special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who knows when its time to just get out of the way. She's still explaining the game to me.". I didn't even know what a field goal was. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. The Chiefs retired Stenerud's jersey number 3 in his honor. Whos the richest Football Player in the world. A lot of things happened to me that I had no control over. At 80 years old, Jan Stenerud height is 6' 2" (1.88 m) . Stenerud told Kleiner some 54 years later, Stenerud compared playing for the Packers, Stenerud told MontanaSports.com in February 2020, The Life And Career Of Bobby Bell (Story), The Life And Career Of Mack Lee Hill (Story), The Life And Career Of Priest Holmes (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Len Dawson (Story), The Life And Career Of Albert Lewis (Story), The Life And Career Of Tamba Hali (Story), The Life And Career Of Johnny Robinson (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Trent Green (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Neil Smith (Complete Story), The Legend Of LB Derrick Thomas (Complete Bio), The Life And Career Of Steve DeBerg (Complete Story), The Life And Career Of Christian Okoye (Complete Story). Jan recalls what went through his mind when Sweeney invited him to join the 1964 team on the Montana State sidelines: This is America. Last year I made a point of touching the cleats of my kicking shoe a certain number of times before a kick. This and his excellent academics explain how Stenerud came to be offered a skiing scholarship to Montana State and why his parents insisted he accept it, particularly because they could not afford higher education in Norway at the time. I didnt know the first thing about a soccer-style kicker.. free shipping Jan Stenerud Autographed Signed Auto Official Wilson NFL Football W/HOF 91 JSA WIN. You think that didn't help? well your foot will feel like you nailed a cinder block. The higher education of Jan Stenerud, a ski jumper from Fetsund, Norway, began one fall afternoon in 1965 when Jim Sweeney, then the head coach at Montana State, held up a bloated object and said, "Son, this is a football." He had an impact on the record books. In 2008, free agent Nick Novak didnt last the season, either; he was replaced by Connor Barth after just six weeks. But Stram reassured and convinced him that he had much left to give. Jan Steneruds age is 80. Various publications have their all-time teams and best-ever teams. On our way there he had us stop off at Indiana State University. Zodiac Sign: Jan Stenerud is a Sagittarius. "It's really silly," he says. ", Former ski jumper Jan Stenerud of the Kansas City Chiefs has become the best field-goal kicker in a sport he hardly understands, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. And it. As a placekicker at Tech, Butker will be long remembered for two field goals in 2014 one in the last second against Virginia Tech to win the game, and a 53-yarder against Georgia that sent the game into overtime along with another in the final minute of the 2015 game against Florida State. For 19 years, Jan Stenerud has been winning games with field goals. ", "It was kind of silly, really," remembers Stenerud, now the Kansas City Chiefs' field goal specialist. After completing a training session, Stenerud noticed some football players kicking field goals and, recalling his background in soccer, he figured hed give it a try. Most positions require skill, strength, speed, intelligence and mental toughness. I am just thrilled to death that I got that opportunity.. Jan Stenerud on the Kansas City bench on Jan. 1, 1976. "Whenever the team got to the 50-yard line (the student section) would start yelling, 'Send in Jan!'" Stenerud said with a laugh. Thats how the scouts from around the league heard about me, Jan said. We had the greatest players that anybody had ever seen on the football field. The whole time, Im thinking, Im ready for this. Discover what happened on this day. Jan Stenerud (/stnrud/, born November 26, 1942) is a former professional football player for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs (1967-1969), and the NFL's Chiefs (1970-1979), Green Bay Packers (1980-1983), and Minnesota Vikings (1984-1985). A miss in the 2017 postseason a 48-yard attempt in the third quarter of the 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans that easily could have made a difference in the game might have removed some of Butkers luster among Chiefs fans, but most fans probably remember uhhh other failures in that game. Heard you can kick!. When the Chiefs were playing the Miami Dolphins at the end of the 1966 season, they invited Stenerud to Miami for a tryout. But the Chiefs had been paying attention. Jan stayed in college and was a key member of a Bobcats team that won the 1966 Big Sky Conference title. "I was out with some of the other skiers, getting my legs in shape for the season. "Ah, never mind, son," said Sweeney. Now, he hates to admit it, but he is a 3-handicapgolfer. On this day, Jan heard 10 words that changed not only the trajectory of his life but also the record books in college football and in two professional football leagues in the decades that followed. He went out for spring practice in 1965 and made the team the following fall. The street where he grew up, in the municipality Fetsund, was renamed in his honor. While he went undrafted in 1967, he signed with the Chiefs, and once he did, he transferred to a National Guard unit in Kansas City. It is unbelievable. Once they saw Stenerud kick, all doubts were erased. Why barefoot kicking went away is because the rise of the NFL as a big money sport finally created a market for shoe companies to create an athletic shoe designed for kickers. Couldnt they have picked another team? he joked.