But I never dreamed that my greatest jump of all would be to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A six-time all-league selection, Stenerud played in two AFL All-Star Games and in four AFC-NFC Pro Bowls. pic.twitter.com/Uu5Bm27dSq. Courtesy of BuckysBadgers, one name jumped out at me: Jan Stenerud. But I was developing my skills as a soccer player and ski jumper, which is a perfect combination for a field goal kicker. If that scene sounds absurd by todays standards imagine Andy Reid doing the same for Cairo Santos this was about more than Strams endless innovations and eccentricities. Up went the ball, up and away, through the two skinny poles called goalposts, out of sight. I did. Something went wrong. Moseley scored on a then league-record 23 straight field. But Succop wasnt the first young kicker the team had tried. If you are ready for it and some kind of occasion presents itself, who knows what can happen? . Luck is on their side. More tangibly, at a time goalposts still were at the goal line, he suddenly made any excursion into the opponents side of the field a threat to score. 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. 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." When I think of Jan, I think of impact, and impact defined is "an instantaneous stroke communicated through a body in motion." re: Barefoot Kickers Posted on 8/6/10 at 9:30 am to SM6. -- 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. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, MIGHTY NETWORKS, 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Colonel Paris Davis received the Medal of Honor nearly 60 years after he earned it in Vietnam, Partially paralyzed sailor finds release in adaptive sports, The top 10 most patriotic moments in sports history, Ray Didinger On Tony Franklin, The Barefoot Cannon, For Former Kicker, the Price of Fearlessness - The New York Times, The Era of the Barefoot Kicker | NFL Films Presents - YouTube. In recent years, Stenerud has been involved in a Kansas City firm involved in designing stadiums and sports arenas. Jan 29, 2018 . [Football] is so important to the people of the community and the people of the state. Thats how the scouts from around the league heard about me, Jan said. And the third and the fourth. Stenerud kicked away the doubts until the age of 42, when a bad back forced him to retire after booting a league record 373 field goals. The kick sailed 5 yards farther than the previous collegiate mark and 3 yards beyond the existing NFL record. The MSU basketball coach, Roger Craft, noticed Stenerud booming kicks straight and long toward the goal posts and told the football coach, Jim Sweeney, what he had seen. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. Then Sweeney put his arm around Stenerud and offered him a place on the team, a moment frozen in Steneruds mind. "Just because I dont do cartwheels when I make a game-winning field goal doesnt mean Im not extremely pleased.. Thinking back to his time on the Panthers practice squad, Butker said he always had confidence he could succeed in the NFL. Sign up for the 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. The reasons some kickers preferred a barefoot kick were twofold: kickers believed they could control their kicks better with their feet than they could wearing kicking cleats of the time period. The Kansas City Chiefs were so impressed they selected Stenerud in the third round of the AFL's 1966 Future Draft. 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. Please enter a valid email and try again. And now I would like for you to meet the most important people in my life, Shane, Clancey, Betsy and of course, my wife, Lindy. Im ready to be a starting kicker in the NFL. But that was about to change profoundly because of Stenerud, who revolutionized a major part of the game. He told Sweeney, Youve got to take a look at this Norwegian skier out there. 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. Jan Stenerud is a Sagittarius and his 81st birthday is in, The 80-year-old Norwegian was born in the Silent Generation and the Year of the Horse. 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). He put his hand on my shoulder and said, Young man, what are you doing tomorrow?. Stenerud is the first pure placekicker to enter the Hall. "That was pretty darn good," Stenerud said. 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). As Stenerud lined up, he remembered actually eyeing up the goal posts at the other end of the field before asking himself what the hell am I doing? and driving the ball to around the opposing 30. He makes you feel you cant give up a thing because he is so dangerous from anywhere inside the 50, Eller told Pro Football Weekly, adding, I think (Stenerud) was most valuable player in the game.. 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. Enter and space open menus and escape closes them as well. Fifty years ago this month, an exotic curiosity named Jan Stenerud signed a lease at the El Camino Real apartments on The Plaza. Broncos & Steelers to pay tribute to Hall of Famers during special ceremonies during Week 6 of NFL season. Dave Rayner came in and lasted 10 games before giving way to 18-year veteran John Carney to finish the 2007 season. That was 60 field goals ago. The 1980s were a crazy time for America and its institutions. 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. To this day, Stenerud rather nobly declines to comment on that play. I decided right then that he was the coach I wanted to play for, that he was a man who could help me.". He was respected, admired and loved by his teammates and coaches. As the Montana State Bobcats practiced for their final home football game in 1964, Jan Stenerud was going through his own fall routine: conditioning his legs for the upcoming ski season by running the stadiums steps. ", 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. Needless to say, he made a dramatic impact. 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. With 21 field goals he is only seven shy of both the AFL and NFL records, with six games yet to play. Against archrival Montana, he boomed a 59-yarder, shattering the NCAA record, in a 24-7 win. Then wife starts to scream, Heidi Gardner coaches Chiefs Travis Kelce in commercial for Saturday Night Live, Ned Yost enters Royals Hall of Fame as epitome of their rise from futility to glory, What a rebuilding year looks like: On Chiefs 2022 season and what it portends, Why Super Bowl victory over Eagles was Andy Reids masterpiece and cements his legacy, On a through-line from Satchel Paige to Patrick Mahomes and a Super Bowl breakthrough, Why Patrick Mahomes second NFL MVP award is more revealing recognition than the first, Brothers keeper: On the poignant stuff beyond the hype surrounding the Kelce Bowl. 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. If you think he needed help, let me show you some charts. I hear you can kick. are recalled today as Jan steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight. Now, he hates to admit it, but he is a 3-handicapgolfer. Stenerud missed the FG but my opine, the wrong choice was made pre-kick. Baw Bakery. 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. I was drafted by Kansas City at the right time. According to USA Todays story on the 2017 Redskins game, Colquitt made the difference after Butkers first miss in the NFL. All along the way, he never forgot the first coach who gave him a shot. He could have been on the Olympic ski team he had not pursued football. There are two people here today that are great kickers as well as outstanding football players: George Blanda and Lou Graza. Today with these memories and this honor, I got the same feeling, the feeling that my feet are now touching the ground. They have AstroTurf there and we worked out on it. The Chiefs retired Stenerud's jersey number 3 in his honor. This planet represents abundance, prosperity and the principle of expansion.