Chris Gartner

Last updated

Chris Gartner
No. 10
Position Placekicker
Personal information
Born (1950-07-12) July 12, 1950 (age 75)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school Princeton (NJ)
College Indiana
NFL draft 1973: undrafted
Career history
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Games played11
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Sven Chris Gartner (born July 12, 1950) is a Swedish former American football kicker who played one season for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Indiana University. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Chris Gartner was born on July 12, 1950, in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is one of only 9 Swedish NFL players. [2] He went to high school in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended college at Indiana. [3] Gartner played for their football team, the Hoosiers, and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2019. [4] In 1972 (his senior year), he was selected to first-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten after setting school records for single-season scores (14), field goals in a game (4), and longest field goal (52 yards). [5] In a 35–34 win against Kentucky, he became the only IU player to have two 50+ yard field goals in a single game.

Professional career

After going unselected in the 1973 NFL draft, Gartner was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, but was released in July.

In 1974, Gartner was signed by the Cleveland Browns as a second kicker to handle kickoff duties, where he played in 11 games. [6] [7] As of 2025, his 11 games stands as the most played by a Swedish player in the Super Bowl era. He was released by the Browns before the start of the 1975 season.

References

  1. "Chris Gartner Stats, News and Video - K". NFL.com. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  2. "Players Born in Sweden". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. "Chris Gartner Stats - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com.
  4. "Gartner, Thomas to be Inducted Into IU Athletics Hall of Fame". Indiana University Athletics. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  5. "Chris Gartner (2019) - Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame". Indiana University Athletics.
  6. "Cleveland's Brownies To Use Second Kicker". News-Journal . October 4, 1974 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. "Chris Gartner Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Further reading