David Roy Akers is an American former football kicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Washington Redskins, after not making the main roster of the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. The following year, Akers signed with the Eagles, where he spent 12 seasons. Akers was also a member of the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions before retiring in 2013.
In American football, a touchback is a ruling that is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to travel over or across the goal line but did not have possession of the ball when it became dead. Since the 2018 season, touchbacks have also been awarded in college football on kickoffs that end in a fair catch by the receiving team between its own 25-yard line and goal line. In the 2023 season, the NFL adopted the same rules as college football in regards to awarding touchbacks on kickoffs that end in a fair catch. In 2024, the NFL moved the placement of the ball after a touchback on a kickoff to the receiving team's 30-yard line; this was part of a radical change to the league's kickoff procedure. Such impetus may be imparted by a kick, pass, fumble, or in certain instances by batting the ball. A touchback is not a play, but a result of events that may occur during a play. A touchback is the opposite of a safety with regard to impetus since a safety is scored when the ball becomes dead in a team's end zone after that team — the team whose end zone it is — caused the ball to cross the goal line.
Michael Shayne Graham is an American American football coach and former placekicker. Graham played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech. He made his professional debut in May 2000 with the Richmond Speed of the Arena Football League's now-defunct developmental league, AF2.
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to return the ball, i.e., attempt to advance it towards the kicking team's end zone, until the player with the ball is tackled by the kicking team, goes out of bounds, scores a touchdown, or the play is otherwise ruled dead. Kickoffs take place at the start of each half of play, the beginning of overtime in some overtime formats, and after scoring plays.
Nicholas Ryan Novak is a former American football placekicker. He played college football at Maryland and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2005.
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. American football requires that a field goal must only come during a play from scrimmage while Canadian football retains open field kicks and thus field goals may be scored at any time from anywhere on the field and by any player. The vast majority of field goals, in both codes, are placekicked. Drop-kicked field goals were common in the early days of gridiron football but are almost never attempted in modern times. A field goal may also be scored through a fair catch kick, but this is also extremely rare. In most leagues, a successful field goal awards three points.
Justin Charles Medlock is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, earning consensus All-American honors in 2006. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Medlock also played in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers, as well as the Toronto Argonauts, Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.
In the sports of American football or Canadian football, the act of icing the kicker or freezing the kicker is the act of calling a timeout immediately prior to the snap in order to disrupt the process of kicking a field goal. The intent is to throw the kicker off of his routine and force him to feel pressure for a longer amount of time. The tactic is used at the collegiate and professional levels, although its effectiveness has not been proven.
Stephen Theodore Hauschka is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Middlebury College and North Carolina State.
The 2009 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Razorbacks played five home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas and two home games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. Head coach Bobby Petrino was in his second season at Arkansas. The Razorbacks finished the season 8–5, 3–5 in SEC play and won the Liberty Bowl 20–17 against East Carolina.
Graham Clark Gano is an American football placekicker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Gano has also played for the Las Vegas Locomotives in the United Football League (UFL), the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers. During his time with the Panthers, he achieved the franchise's record for longest field goal at 63 yards in 2018.
Field goal range is the part of the field in American football where there is a good chance that a field goal attempt will be successful.
Fabrizio Scaccia is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Arizona Rattlers as a street free agent in 2010. He attended Indian River State College, a school that did not have a football team, so he joined semi-pro football.
Matthew Blake Dickinson Wile is a former American football punter. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014. In four years at Michigan, he had 91 punts for 3,658 yards, an average of 40.2 yards per punt. He converted 20 of 29 field goal attempts and was successful on 33 of 33 extra point attempts.
Greg Joseph is a South African-born American professional football placekicker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida Atlantic and signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2018. Later that year, Joseph made his NFL debut with the Cleveland Browns. He has also been a member of the Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Minnesota Vikings.
Don Hageman III is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at San Diego State.
Matthew Wright is an American football placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Wright is known for breaking the Jacksonville Jaguars' 20-game losing streak, when he scored two fourth quarter field goals, including a game-winning 53 yarder in an NFL International Series game against the Miami Dolphins in London. Wright played college football at UCF where he was a member of the undefeated 2017 team that was selected as National Champions by the Colley Matrix.
Matt Ammendola is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma State. While at Oklahoma State, Matt was a 2017 initiate of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. On March 2, 2024, he received the chapters highest honor being inducted into the Gamma Chi Hall of Fame. After college, he signed with the Carolina Panthers, but later signed and played for the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, and Houston Texans after going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Will Reichard is an American football placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he became the all-time NCAA Division I FBS scoring leader.
The 2024 UFL season was the first season of the United Football League, which was created following the merger of the XFL and USFL, and the fifth season in the combined history of the two leagues, following the 2020 XFL season, 2022 USFL season, and separate 2023 seasons for both the USFL and XFL.
