Jim Breech

Field goals:	243/340 (71.5%)
Extra points:	517/539 (95.9%)
Points scored:	1,246

Jim Breech
No. 5, 10, 3
Position:	Placekicker
Personal information
Born:	April 11, 1956 (age 68); Sacramento, California, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight:	161 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school:	Sacramento (CA)
College:	California
NFL draft:	1978 / Round: 8 / Pick: 206
Career history
	Detroit Lions (1978)*; Oakland Raiders (1979); Cincinnati Bengals (1980–1992);
	* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
	2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1976, 1977); Second-team All-Pac-8 (1975);
Career NFL statistics
Field goals:
Field goals:	243/340 (71.5%)
Extra points:	517/539 (95.9%)
Points scored:	1,246
	Player stats at PFR

Last updated May 27, 2024

James Thomas Breech (born April 11, 1956) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), who played for Oakland Raiders ^[1] in 1979 and Cincinnati Bengals from 1980 to 1992. Before his NFL career, Breech played for the University of California, Berkeley and Sacramento High School. Breech was notable among kickers for wearing a different size cleat on his kicking foot. He wore a smaller size 5 cleat on his right kicking foot (his normal size was 7) which he felt gave him more control and stability kicking the football.

Early life

Breech was the starting kicker for Cal in 1977 and 1978, making 58/59 extra points and 32/51 field goals (62%) in his two seasons. Breech was selected in the 8th round of the 1978 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions but was cut by the team before the start of the season. He spent the 1979 season with the Raiders, but they cut him in the 1980 pre-season in order to sign kicker Chris Bahr, who had just been cut by the Bengals. Breech was later asked by Cleveland Browns personnel director Paul Warfield to possibly join the team as a replacement for injured Don Cockroft. However, not hearing back from Cleveland, he received a phone call from the Bengals' assistant personnel director Frank Smouse. Breech was signed by the Bengals, and ended up staying there for the remainder of his career.

NFL career

In his 14 NFL seasons, Breech made 243 of 340 field goals (71.4%), 517 of 539 extra points (95.9%), and scored 1,246 total points. His 1,151 points with the Bengals are a franchise record. He is second all-time scoring in consecutive games with 186 consecutive games, and he was a perfect 9 for 9 in overtime field goals, an NFL record. Breech played in 9 postseason games during his career. In all of them combined, he missed just 2 field goals out of 11 attempts and never missed an extra point. Breech also played in Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XXIII, was perfect in both games, not missing a field goal or extra point in either one. In Super Bowl XXIII, he kicked 3 field goals and scored 10 of Cincinnati's 16 points in the game. When his third field goal gave the Bengals a 16-13 lead over the San Francisco 49ers with just 3:10 left in the game, it appeared there was a strong possibility he would become the first kicker ever to win the Super Bowl MVP award. However, the 49ers ended that chance by driving 92 yards and scoring the winning touchdown with 34 seconds left in the game. In 1999, he was inducted into the University of California Athletic hall of fame.^[1]

Career regular season statistics

Career high/best bolded

Regular season statistics
Season	Team (record)	G	FGM	FGA	%	<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	LNG	BLK	XPM	XPA	%	PTS
1979	OAK (9–7)	16	18	27	66.7	1–2	7–7	7–10	3–7	0–1	47	0	41	45	91.1	95
1980	CIN (6–10)	4	4	7	57.1	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–3	0–1	42	0	11	12	91.7	24
1981	CIN (12–4)	16	22	32	68.8	0–0	9–11	7–9	5–11	1–1	51	0	49	51	96.1	115
1982	CIN (7–2)	9	14	18	77.8	2–2	3–3	5–6	3–5	1–2	50	0	25	26	96.2	67
1983	CIN (7–9)	16	16	23	69.6	2–2	7–7	5–7	2–5	0–2	47	0	39	41	95.1	87
1984	CIN (8–8)	16	22	31	71.0	0–0	9–10	10–12	3–4	0–5	48	0	37	37	100.0	103
1985	CIN (7–9)	16	24	33	71.0	0–0	7–8	12–13	4–6	1–6	53	0	48	50	96.0	120
1986	CIN (10–6)	16	17	32	53.1	1–2	4–5	5–7	5–14	2–4	51	0	50	51	98.0	101
1987	CIN (4–11)	12	24	30	80.0	0–0	6–7	12–12	6–11	0–0	46	0	25	27	92.6	97
1988	CIN (12–4)	16	11	16	68.8	1–1	5–5	3–4	2–5	0–1	45	0	56	59	94.9	89
1989	CIN (8–8)	12	12	14	85.7	0–0	9–9	3–4	0–1	0–0	38	0	37	38	97.4	73
1990	CIN (9–7)	16	17	21	81.0	0–0	6–6	5–6	6–9	0–0	46	0	41	44	93.2	92
1991	CIN (3–13)	16	23	29	79.3	0–0	9–10	8–10	5–6	1–3	50	1	27	27	100.0	96
1992	CIN (5–11)	16	19	27	70.4	0–0	8–8	7–7	4–11	0–1	48	0	31	31	100.0	88
Career (14 seasons)		197	243	340	71.5	7–9	91–98	90–109	49–98	6–26	53	1	517	539	95.9	1246

After football

Breech is a sales executive for the Hauser Group, an insurance firm in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, Ohio. He also heads the Cincinnati chapter of NFL Alumni and is also on the board of directors for Kicks for Kids, an organization to help needy kids started by fellow former Cincinnati Bengals kicker Doug Pelfrey.

Related Research Articles

Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1981 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals by the score of 26–21 to win their first Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1988 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals 20–16, winning their third Super Bowl. The game was played on January 22, 1989, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held at the Orange Bowl.

Jason Elam is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Denver Broncos. He was selected by Denver in the third round of the 1993 NFL draft and played 15 seasons with the Broncos and two with the Atlanta Falcons.

Adam Matthew Vinatieri is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Considered one of the greatest placekickers of all time, he is the NFL's all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points. He also holds the NFL records for field goals made (599), postseason points (238), and overtime field goals made (12).

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, he 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.

Jeffrey Allen Wilkins, nicknamed "Money", is an American former football placekicker who played for the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL). With the Rams, he won Super Bowl XXXIV. He played college football for the Youngstown State Penguins. Wilkins is currently tied for second place all-time in most consecutive PATs without a miss at 371.

John Matthew Stover is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. After five seasons for the Cleveland Browns, he was among the Browns players transferred to the newly-created Ravens franchise in 1996, with whom he played 13 seasons. Additionally, Stover was a member of the New York Giants during his first season and Indianapolis Colts during his last. His most successful season was in 2000 when he earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors en route to the Ravens winning their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXV. He was also part of the Giants team that won Super Bowl XXV. For his accomplishments with the Ravens, Stover was named to the Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor in 2011.

Michael Nugent is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he won the Lou Groza Award in 2004, and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft, and also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears, the Oakland Raiders, and the New England Patriots during his 16-year career.

In National Football League (NFL) lore, the Freezer Bowl was the 1981 AFC Championship Game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was played on January 10, 1982, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, and televised by NBC, with announcers Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen. The game, won by the Bengals, 27–7, was played in the coldest temperature in NFL history in terms of wind chill. Air temperature was −9 °F (−23 °C), but the wind chill, factoring in a sustained wind of 27 miles per hour (43 km/h), was reported as −59 °F (−51 °C) under the calculation method then in use.

Robert Paul Gould III is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Gould was originally signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played with the Bears from 2005 to 2015, earning first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2006, and became the franchise's all-time leading scorer.

David Wayne Kimball is a former professional American football placekicker, most notably with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. He was allocated to NFL Europe by the Oakland Raiders in 2006. He attended State College Area High School and was a Parade All-American selection there in 1999. He resides in State College, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Cincinnati Bengals</span>

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football franchise in the National Football League. Since starting off as an expansion franchise in the American Football League in 1968, they have appeared in three Super Bowls, but lost all three times, twice to the San Francisco 49ers and once to the Los Angeles Rams.

NFL Classics is a series of videotaped rebroadcasts of National Football League games that air on the NFL Network. The show airs weekly during the offseason and also occasionally during the NFL season. As of the 2010, the series airs on Monday night while Super Bowl Classics airs on Friday night.

The 1988 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 21st year in professional football and its 19th with the National Football League (NFL).

Gregory ZuerleinZURR-line; is an American football placekicker for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he played college football at Nebraska-Omaha and Missouri Western. He previously played for the St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys.

Justin Paul Tucker is an American football placekicker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Texas and was signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Regarded as one of the greatest placekickers of all time, Tucker is the most accurate kicker in NFL history at 90.2 percent and holds the record for the longest successful NFL field goal at 66 yards. Tucker has also been named to seven Pro Bowls and five first-team All-Pros, and was a member of the Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII.

Jake Daniel Elliott, nicknamed Jake "The Make" for his kicking ability, is an American football placekicker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Memphis. He was part of the Eagles' Super Bowl LII championship team against the New England Patriots.

Matt Gay is an American football placekicker for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). Gay played college football at the University of Utah and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.

Evan McPhersonmick-FEAR-suhn; is an American football placekicker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida before being drafted by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the only kicker to be selected that year.

Jake Moody is an American football placekicker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Michigan, twice earning All-American honors and winning the Lou Groza Award in 2021. Moody was selected by the 49ers in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, making him only the second kicker since 2016 to be drafted in the top 100 selections.

References

1 2 "Jim Breech athletic career, photos, articles, and videos | Fanbase". fanbase.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2014.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[fan-1] 1 2 "Jim Breech athletic career, photos, articles, and videos | Fanbase". fanbase.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2014.

[1]