He was named the Outstanding Offensive Player in the 1972 Pro Bowl. The site navigation utilizes arrow, enter, escape, and space bar key commands. . The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. And while that may be true, Steneruds story might be worth bringing him through our hypothetical time portal. He isKansas City's record-holder in career points. It is a job with intense pressure. He kicked for the Chiefs for 13 years (1967-1979) until his release in the summer of 1980. Football practice hadn't yet started that afternoon and some of the players, most of them fellows I knew, were fooling around kicking field goals. An athlete who excelled in track and field, soccer. This story was originally published May 13, 2017, 4:50 PM. The 40s also brought us the Slinky, Velcro, Jeep, Tupperware and Frisbee. With 1,699 points, he ranked behind only the fabled George Blanda in all-time scoring at the time of his retirement. Born in Fetsund, in the county of Akershus, Norway to parents Johan Stenerud, and Klara (Kjustad) Stenerud, Stenerud came to the United States as a college student, on a ski jumping scholarship to Montana State University in Bozeman. MSU students arrived at Gatton Field early to watch Stenerud kick on warmups. When is Jan Steneruds birthday? But on Sunday, Butker and his wife Isabelle informed the world about another chapter in it: the birth of their son James Augustine Butker. Team Stats. Quiz Hes got a strong leg. Hes one of just five kickers with a cumulative accuracy above 80% from 1980 to 1983, and he attempted by far the most kicks out of anyone on the list. For that matter, Stenerud set a collegiate record that never will be broken: Technically, anyway, he attempted a 113-yard field goal. $169.22. Passing, Rushing, & Receiving Table . In the AFL, Jan made his first kick a 54-yard field goal in the 1967 season opener against Houston. When the professional average was 50 percent, Stenerud hit better than 70 percent in his first four years with the Chiefs, and his deep kickoffs were part of a movement to push them back to the 35 (and later the 30). People born on a Thursday are naturally well-meaning and open. Reaching back with his right leg, Stenerud slammed the football so hard with the ball of his right foot that it sounded like two horses colliding. He attended Montana State University on a ski jumping scholarship. Stenerud couldn't participate that fall, 1964, because of eligibility rules. There are two people here today that are great kickers as well as outstanding football players: George Blanda and Lou Graza. Weeks after his collegiate debut in 1965, Stenerud kicked a then-NCAA record 59-yard field goal also 3 yards longer than the then-NFL record. Start date Jan 29, 2018; G. Glenn's take All-American. Thats what you do when The ButtKicker finally finds his way to your team. The video below features Franklin kicking in the 1985 AFC Championship game. He did just that with three field goals in the first half of Super Bowl IV that in themselves would have been enough to beat the Vikings. He is best known for being a Football Player. The strengths of this sign are being generous, idealistic, sense of humor, while weaknesses can be to promise more than can deliver, impatient and say anything no matter how undiplomatic. The schools basketball coach noticed him booting the ball around the field, tipped off the football coaches, and the rest is history. If there are qualitiesI have inherited from both of themis the stability and determination. After living in Colorado working in business development for HNTB Architecture, he and his wife, Patty, returned a few years ago, and its been a remarkable life even if he dwells more than anyone ought to on one dark moment. In a perfect world, Stenerud would have scored a touchdown behind the two guards who had pulled. Ten minutes later he was telling Sweeney. In 1981, when he was with the Green Bay Packers, he made 22 of 24 field goals, a league record of 91% -- 91.7 -- and he had an impact also on the Hall of Fame because he was the very first specialist to enter Pro Football's Hall of Fame. hurtful thing." (When The New York Times called to ask Stenerud about the kick a year . 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. NFL placekicker who became the first pure placekicker to earn an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Various publications have their all-time teams and best-ever teams. But I did get the ball out to mid-field. Up went the ball, up and away, through the two skinny poles called goalposts, out of sight. Stram sighed; there was a hitch. The excitement of the Chiefs-Raiders contests. "When . Whos the richest Football Player in the world? Jan Stenerud (/ s t n r u d /, Norwegian: [stnrd] (); 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.The first Norwegian NFL player, he began his career in the AFL after being selected by the Chiefs during the . He was a consensus All-America selection. But from virtually the time he made his first attempt with the Chiefs (from 54 yards away) to stints with the Packers and Vikings before the end of his career in 1985, Stenerud was the best kicker in the game. Still, maybe its not a lot to ask to remember the rest of his story, too one that stretched the imagination, changed the game and helped the Chiefs to their only Super Bowl win. For 19 years, Jan Stenerud has been winning games with field goals. Few did at a time Pete Gogolak and Garo Yepremian were the only so-called sidewinders in the professional game. Jan Stenerud's 20-yard field goal with 50 seconds left lifted Green Bay over Washington in the highest-scoring Monday Night game ever. That's why I got out there every day; I was the guy doing the learning. He joined the football team his senior academic year and ended up playing two seasons of varsity football. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him with a red shirt draft pick. And painfulhe was wearing tennis shoes. This page is updated often with new details about Jan Stenerud. Jan Stenerud. He is the first pure placekicker to be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Ah, never mind, son," said Sweeney. Meanwhile, back in Kansas City, the Chiefs had drafted Justin Medlock in the fifth round. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. Please make sure JavaScript is enabled and then try loading this page again. In 1984, the Packers traded Stenerud to the Minnesota Vikings for a seventh-round draft choice. Jan Stenerud is a Football Player, zodiac sign: Sagittarius. So he snapped it to a surprised Dawson, and the out-of-rhythm Stenerud tried to adjust but missed. He finished the season without missing a single PAT, and made 90.5 percent of his field-goal attempts. But if I don't hear the click of the snap before the play ends, I get a horrible feeling that I may miss. [fetch instagram= display=posts show=2 ]. Jan is a total Hall of Fame package:productive, consistent and enduring. 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. He led the league with 21 field goals, a new Chiefs record, and scored 108 points, trailing only future Hall of Famer George Blandas 116 points. At the time this story was made Jan Stenerud was still kicking for the team most people still associate him with: The Kansas City Chiefs. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Kansas City, MO 10/8/1967 CREDIT: Rich Clarkson Football: Super Bowl IV, Kansas City Chiefs Jan Stenerud and QB Len Dawson in action vs Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans, LA 1/11/1970 Chiefs can find defensive line value on Day 2. They used skills learned in one sport--soccer -- to become successful in another -- football. With tight ends set to work out on Saturday, here are a few players Kansas City fans should be watching. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. Odds & lines subject to change. Other kickers had trouble hitting the footballs sweet spot wearing their issued uniform cleats. Once more details are available on who he is dating, we will update this section. Stenerud represented a revolution. If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: https://www.norwegianamerican.com/interview-legend-jan-stenerud/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.5060.114 Safari/537.36 Edg/103.0.1264.62, A summary of what you were doing and why you need access to this site. $109.99. His 373 career field goals and seven seasons of scoring 100 or more points were also NFL records. He made five field goals twice against Buffalo the year we won the Super Bowl. The Chiefs might run through a few, for instance, on a Friday afternoon. I remember it so well. 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. Sponsored by USAA, the 2023 Salute to Service Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! To this day, Stenerud rather nobly declines to comment on that play. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Something went wrong. ", "It was kind of silly, really," remembers Stenerud, now the Kansas City Chiefs' field goal specialist. I dont know anything about this new kicker, said Arrowhead Prides Joel Thorman when the move was announced, but presumably special teams coach Dave Toub signed off on it. At Montana State I had a coach, I mentioned him earlier, but I need to recognize him more. When the Chiefs were playing the Miami Dolphins at the end of the 1966 season, they invited Stenerud to Miami for a tryout. Nearly 30 years ago, I was recruited from Norway to Montana State on a ski scholarship. Though hes most notable for his time with the Chiefs and also played for the Vikings (hey, nobodys perfect), Stenerud cites his time with the Packers as possibly the best and definitely the most unique. Jan Stenerud was born on the 26th of November, 1942. Your email address will not be published. Most coaches don't, or at least I don't think they do. Once they saw Stenerud kick, all doubts were erased. And I didn't know anything about football. Also, it can get really cold out there. The Chiefs were the final AFL champions in 1969, and they met the NFL Champion Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans. Back then, a field goal that fell short was merely considered a live ball. Jan Stenerud was born in Fetsund, in the county of Akershus, Norway. The street where he grew up, in the municipality Fetsund, was renamed in his honor. Majority of Jans money comes from being a football player. 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. Five of them are here today. I always felt that we would win or lose about four to six games a year with the kicking game. 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. This one could hurt.. You think that didn't help? At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-tenured (19 years) professional football player to have played in the AFL. Since, Stenerud has kicked four against New York, two against Denver, two against Miami, four against Buffalo, two against Cincinnati, one against Oakland and two against San Diego. The early 1940s were dominated by World War II. Jan Stenerud was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. A native of Decatur, Georgia who attended Atlantas exclusive Westminster School, he is a product of Georgia Tech, from which he graduated with a degree in industrial engineering. But Stenerud made the most of those opportunities. But Succop wasnt the first young kicker the team had tried. 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. While we don't know Jan Stenerud birth time, but we do know his mother gave birth to his on a Thursday. "He brought me in a month early before my first season. Then, alas, theres the 32-yarder he missed with 35 seconds left. "But I didn't know what a future was. She's still explaining the game to me.". Jan Stenerud attended Montana State University. Sign up for the Though it wasnt his best in terms of accuracy, Steneruds 1983 season might have been his finest in Green Bay. . Jan also made a great impact on the American Football Leagueand National Football League,as he helped usher in the age of soccer-style kickers. They were my view of a perfect combination. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. There isn't a doubt in my mind that he's the greatest long-distance field-goal kicker who ever played the game. 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. And this one day, I decided to go down and kick a few footballs, and all of us played a lot of soccer, and I guess I had one urge to try this oval ball. We are all very, very proud of you, Jan. Good luck and God bless. I didn't know the first thing about a soccer-style kicker. Stenerud, the middle of Johan and Klara Steneruds three children, was skiing since before he can remember: from the jumps his father built outside their house in Fetsund (population approximately 7,000) to the improvised ones hed contrive like other local kids or at any of a half-dozen venues that lit the town at night. 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. He made his very first field goal inhis first attempt, a 54-yarder against Houston in 1967. I also want to tell the football fans and the football organization with the three teams that I played, Kansas City, Green Bay and Minnesota, a heartfelt thank you for your loyalty and support. When I grew up in Norway, my dream was to become an outstanding ski jumper. Meet the newest member of the Butker family! James Augustine Butker 1/27/19 12:29am9lb 5 oz, 21 inchesSs. Broncos & Steelers to pay tribute to Hall of Famers during special ceremonies during Week 6 of NFL 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. "Just because I dont do cartwheels when I make a game-winning field goal doesnt mean Im not extremely pleased.. James and Augustine, Pray for Us! "It's really silly," he says. Discover what happened on this day. We liked him coming out. The next year, though, he took college football by storm. Few games were played in domes, and there was scant specialized coaching or equipment taken for granted today. I can do this, he told the Journal-Constitution. He won Super Bowl IV under Chiefs head coach Hank Stram. The first Norwegian to play in the NFL, Stenerud pioneered the soccer-style kicking that is used by all modern placekickers and was the first pure kicker to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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. 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. He was obviously a good kicker in college, Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media after Butker had been poached from Carolina. It is undeniable that a kicker's position is isolated and that the skills that are necessary to become an outstanding kicker are different from those skills required to play most other positions. -- Jan Stenerud's journey from his home Norway to the Montana State University ski jumping team, to the eventual joining of the Bobcats' football program and Kansas City Chiefs was admittedly beyond his wildest dreams. Now Coach Sweeney did not want to listen to, in Jim's own words, a goofy basketball coach, and a couple of weeks later, however, I was out there again and he summoned me down from the stands and he asked if I could kick off and showed me how to put the ball on the tee.