"Ah, never mind, son," said Sweeney. . Let me close by going back to where it started: ski jumping. He never changed. Enshrined in 1991, Stenerud, along with George Blanda, Lou Groza, Ray Guy, and 2017 inductee Morten Andersen, is one of only five kicking specialists in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is one of three who did not play another position (Blanda played quarterback, Groza was a tackle). Kicker: 1980-83. They snagged a drafted rookie without expending any draft capital, and will end up having him on a minimum-cost contract for almost four full seasons a point former sports agent Joel Corry noted last January. He was enjoying life in America immensely, fascinated by all things unfamiliar, including a peculiar sport played with an oval ball (as he put it). 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. Up and Down arrows will open main level menus and toggle through sub tier links. But I got rid of that one this year. ", "Phooey," says Stenerud, in Norwegian. The 80-year-old football player was born in Norway. Stenerud shrugged, boomed two through from the 40-yard line. Jan Stenerud was 6 ft 2 inches, 187 lb (1.88 m, 84 kg). 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. He had me work from there, and now it's just like kicking from the middle or the left. On Christmas Day 1971, the Chiefs hosted the Miami Dolphins in an AFC divisional playoff game. Norwegian-American football player (born 1942), "Hometown Hero: Bobcat legend Jan Stenerud honored by MSU, Pro Football Hall of Fame", "Stenerud to be honored by Hall of Fame in Bozeman Thursday", "Bobcat legend Stenerud to be honored in Bozeman", "The distinctions aren't as easy to make any more, but, God willing, some things will never change", National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jan_Stenerud&oldid=1142242649, American Football League All-Star players, National Football League players with retired numbers, Short description is different from Wikidata, NFL player missing current team parameter, Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 08:20. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. The 80-year-old Norwegian football player has done well thus far. If you are ready for it and some kind of occasion presents itself, who knows what can happen? . He can, he says,. Once they saw Stenerud kick, all doubts were erased. Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud was reliable and productive in Green Bay, Friday NFL Scouting Combine Review: WR/TE interviews, DB workouts, 4 receivers to look out for in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Dynamic slot receivers will be available in the middle of the first round, he said in an interview with Monday Night Football in 2000, Packers WR Randall Cobb has ankle surgery ahead of free agency, Thursday NFL Scouting Combine Review: DB interviews, DL/LB workouts, Panthers have called Packers about possible Aaron Rodgers trade, per report, 3 top defensive back prospects have formal meetings with Packers at NFL Combine. [2] Craft notified football head coach Jim Sweeney of the Norwegian ski jumper's kicking abilities, and Sweeney offered him a tryout, which was successful. He also looked within and told himself that everyone gets knocked down, but some people dont get back up, and that he would have been ashamed of himself if he had been so weak as to surrender before a career that was just beginning and would continue to flourish. 4 tight end prospects for Chiefs fans to watch at the NFL Scouting Combine. As a halfback at Purdue, Stram kicked a 22-yard field goal to beat Pitt 10-7 in 1946. I remember it so well. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. Chinese Zodiac: Jan Stenerud was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Jan is alive and kicking and is currently 80 years old. ", "Sure it helped," said Stram, grinning. NOW: So I'm talkin' to Jan Stenerud, the Hall of Fame kicker, . While we don't know Jan Stenerud birth time, but we do know his mother gave birth to his on a Thursday. Butker is now well-established as the Chiefs placekicker, and its wouldnt be a stretch to think the Chiefs will do their best to hang on to him when his rookie contract expires in 2021. Its a special experience. Like just before our first game against Houston this year. I guess he liked what he saw, Jan said of his audition for Sweeney on the eve of the season finale. The coach thought I'd do better with my style of kicking. Ive been in Atlanta my whole life, now Im in Kansas City a different part of the country. He was a seven-time All-Pro and won Super Bowl IV as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. People of this zodiac sign like freedom, travel, philosophy, being outdoors and dislike clingy people, constrained, off-the-wall theories. Please enter a valid email and try again. Nothing. He got me started in this great American game, and Coach, without your enthusiasm, your intensity and desire to win, obviously I wouldn't be here today. Over his 14-year career with the Chiefs, he scored 1,466 points still a franchise record and was routinely counted as one of the best in the game. Jan Stenerud, who was born November 26, 1942, in Fetsund, Norway, was an outstanding ski jumper who attended Montana State on a skiing scholarship. "That was pretty darn good," Stenerud said. Please ignore . It is unbelievable. Then he was hit hard after kicking a field goal in the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. KANSAS CITY Mo. This is the land of opportunity, Stenerud remembered thinking. He went out for spring practice in 1965 and made the team the following fall. The street where he grew up, in the municipality Fetsund, was renamed in his honor. Stenerud kicked 18 of 33 field goals in two years at MSU. Yes, he is aware who the Chiefs are playing on Christmas Eve in the 2017 season. He led the league with 21 field goals, a new Chiefs record, and scored 108 points, trailing only future Hall of Famer George Blanda's 116 points. When training camp arrived and with Succop due a big payday the team brought in competition: free agent Cairo Santos. He retired after the 1985 season. 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 didn't know the first thing about a soccer-style kicker. What do you want me to do?" Left and right arrows move across top level links and expand / close menus in sub levels. It made a difference.". After completing a training session, Stenerud noticed some football players kicking field goals and, recalling his background in soccer, he figured hed give it a try. I can honestly say that if you havent played football in Green Bay and youve been in the NFL a long time, youve missed out on something special, he said in an interview with Monday Night Football in 2000. When the Packers signed Norway native Jan Stenerud before the 13th game of the 1980 season . I'm sure no one in the stands actually thought I'd make it. He would later go on to kick for the Green Bay. Stenerud is distinguished as being the first . Stenerud played parts of four seasons in Green Bay from 1980 to 1983, converting 59 of 73 field goal attempts and 115 of 118 extra points in that span. Chiefs meet with Florida defensive tackle ahead of NFL Draft. Sure it helped. But that was about to change profoundly because of Stenerud, who revolutionized a major part of the game. Jan Steneruds age is 80. Generation. Butker had been raised in an environment where such things mattered. Today my thoughts are with my parents. With 21 field goals he is only seven shy of both the AFL and NFL records, with six games yet to play. If the opportunity knocks, who knows what could happen?. Im so used to seeing Carolina blue and Panthers stuff having been in Charlotte and now its red, which is weird, having gone to Georgia Tech.. See our ethics statement. Stenerud is still the only pure kicker elected to the Hall of Fame, but this was to be the worst day of his 19-year NFL career. But for the Panthers, thats all spilt milk. "Here's another one: 92 out of 103. Sign up for the He was an All-American ski jumper on a ski scholarship. "Now that tall fellow over there is called a quarterback and those big fat fellows are tackles, and that chalk line you are standing on is called the 50-yard line and, say, why don't you set the ball down and try and kick it way down there through those two skinny poles, which are called goalposts?" 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. Still Salvy after all these years: Stolen base symbolizes Sal Perezs endless energy, Jackson Mahomes accused of assault by Overland Park restaurant owner and waiter, Is Travis Kelce Chiefs most eligible bachelor? -- 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. In his first collegiate season, Jan connected on seven field goals more than the Bobcats had converted in the previous three seasons combined. In 1967, Norwegian kicker Jan Stenerud was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs and began a journey that earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All along the way, he never forgot the first coach who gave him a shot. The basketball coach saw him kicking and alerted the football coach, Jim Sweeney, who gave Stenerud a tryout. He began to laugh. Gano due to the contract that former Chief kicker Ryan Succop had just negotiated with the Tennessee Titans scored a four-year, $17 million deal with the Panthers last spring, while the Chiefs still have Butker on an inexpensive deal for two more seasons. Start date Jan 29, 2018; G. Glenn's take All-American. I mentioned Hank earlier, and you know his coaching record, but one thing you don't know about Hank that made the biggest impact on me. Stenerud spent time in Green Bay and Minnesota before retiring in 1985. 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 To make the sea change clear, compare those figures to the career numbers of Jan Stenerud, who remains the only player enshrined in the Hall of Fame solely for his placekicking abilities.. I went to the coach and he explained it to me.". And he was not just a kicker, he was an athlete. 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. Kansas Citys star quarterback shattered a record no one thought could be broken. A year later, the Chiefs won a bidding war of sorts with the NFLs Atlanta Falcons when they signed Stenerud to a five-year, $250,000 contract that featured a no-cut provision. "I've been kicking a ball since I was old enough to walk.". Stenerud is the first pure placekicker to enter the Hall. "The wind had been blowing hard all day and our punter was having trouble getting the ball back to the line of scrimmage.