He was such a transformative presence as to become a factor in rules changes and led a wave that ultimately rendered obsolete the traditional straight-on kickers, a fact underscored by the 1.2 million patented tees and instructional books sold in his name. Atlanta had drafted Stenerud at the end of the season, and he had promised to talk with the Falcons before making a decision. He also worked as a commentator for Scandinavian TV channel TV3's Super Bowl Sunday coverage in the 1990s, and still maintains strong ties with his native Norway. Stenerud spent time in Green Bay and Minnesota before retiring in 1985. And that first-half miss from 29 yards out? "But it was me it helped, not Jan. Oops. Jan also made a great impact on the American Football Leagueand National Football League,as he helped usher in the age of soccer-style kickers. 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. And the third and the fourth. "That was pretty darn good," Stenerud said. Jan Stenerud's age is 80. He speaks that language. I'd be better off to get rid of all those small and foolish things. [1][2] In the fall of 1964, Stenerud was training for the upcoming ski season by running the stadium steps of Gatton Field, the football venue through 1971. And this one day, I decided to go down and kick a few footballs, and all of us played a lot of soccer, and I guess I had one urge to try this oval ball. Its always worth reflecting on a player who was great in Green Bay and loved his time there, to boot. He was released immediately. I had gone to a couple of games, but my girl [now Loni Stenerud] had to explain what was happening." As a halfback at Purdue, Stram kicked a 22-yard field goal to beat Pitt 10-7 in 1946. He was respected, admired and loved by his teammates and coaches. Football practice hadn't yet started that afternoon and some of the players, most of them fellows I knew, were fooling around kicking field goals. Stenerud was a six-time all-star (four NFL Pro Bowls and two AFL All-Star games) during his career, as well as a four-time first-team All-Pro in the NFL and a two-time first-team All-AFL. If the opportunity knocks, who knows what could happen?. Heard you can kick!. When I mentioned my teammates earlier I didn't say much about Lenny Dawson, a great guy from Alliance, Ohio, which you all know. 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. By the time he was 20, he was among the best jumpers in the nation and performing in front of 80,000 people at Norways most imposing skiing site, Holmenkollbakken. 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. But if I don't hear the click of the snap before the play ends, I get a horrible feeling that I may miss. And nowadays teams have so much invested in their players, kickers and punters included, that kicking a ball barefoot poses an undue risk for a potentially season-ending toe injury, to say nothing of the idea that the opposing team always seems to fight their way to the kicker these days. "The wind had been blowing hard all day and our punter was having trouble getting the ball back to the line of scrimmage. $346.14. Is that dumb talk when youre 74 or 75?. But I never dreamed that my greatest jump of all would be to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jan was the most accurate kicker in all of pro football from '80 to '84; hemade 82% of this field goals. By David Eulitt Fifty years ago this. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him with a red shirt draft pick. 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. -- 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. Jan Stenerud Position: K 6-2 , 187lb (188cm, 84kg) Born: November 26 in Fetsund, Norway (Age: 80-097d) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 6x Pro Bowl 1x All-Pro 1x SB Champ 1x AFL Champ 3 10 3 SUMMARY Career G 263 AV 78 FGM 373 FGA 558 XPM 580 XPA 601 Jan Stenerud Overview Game Logs Career Postseason 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 For 27 of those seasons from 1967 through 1993 the Chiefs had only two placekickers: Jan Stenerud and Nick Lowery. In 2013, Stenerud recalled that he had a significant tail-wind aiding him on that kick in Bozeman; the ensuing kick-off went over the end-zone bleachers at Gatton Field, whose elevation exceeded 4,900 feet (1,495 . Jan Stenerud, who was born November 26, 1942, in Fetsund, Norway, was an outstanding ski jumper who attended Montana State on a skiing scholarship. There were many factors in the 27-24 defeat in the last game at Municipal Stadium: The Chiefs committed four turnovers to the Dolphins two, and the defense couldnt keep Miami out of the end zone in the final minutes after taking a 24-17 lead. I was confident because he was confident, Reid said. He was humble and appreciative, and when he signed his contract and received his bonus, he said, "You know, this is more money than my dad made in this lifetime. His first, a 48-yarder, was the longest field goal in a Super Bowl for 24 years, exceeded by Steve Christie of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII in January 1994. With the Chiefs trailing 10-7 at the end of the first half, Butker just like Medlock in 2007 missed his first field-goal; the 46-yard attempt was wide left. Thank you very much, coach. Thats how the scouts from around the league heard about me, Jan said. But Stenerud set another college record which should stand forever: a 113-yard field goal try. "Jan adds an exciting new dimension to our offense," says Stram. 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. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. Does all that add up to a player worth swapping for Mason Crosby? 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. Born in Fetsund, in the county of Akershus, Norway to parents Johan Stenerud, and Klara (Kjustad) Stenerud, Stenerud came to the United States as a college student, on a ski jumping scholarship to Montana State University in Bozeman. And I didn't know anything about football. The first Norwegian to play in the NFL, Stenerud pioneered the soccer-style kicking that is used by all modern placekickers and was the first pure kicker to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall . The story is that when Stenerud heard he had been drafted, he started looking on the map for Vietnam. Down went the ball. He attended Montana State University on a ski jumping scholarship. Meanwhile, even his troubles that day are routinely oversimplified in the shorthand of scapegoating. The Chiefs might run through a few, for instance, on a Friday afternoon. He made five field goals twice against Buffalo the year we won the Super Bowl. Since, Stenerud has kicked four against New York, two against Denver, two against Miami, four against Buffalo, two against Cincinnati, one against Oakland and two against San Diego. With 1,699 points, he ranked behind only the fabled George Blanda in all-time scoring at the time of his retirement. The Chiefs retired Stenerud's jersey number 3 in his honor. The first Norwegian to play in the NFL, Stenerud pioneered the soccer-style kicking that is used by all modern placekickers and was the first pure kicker to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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. Please enter a valid email and try again. The Chiefs had 79-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud out at practice on Thursday. The street where he grew up, in the municipality Fetsund, was renamed in his honor. It is unbelievable. The schools basketball coach noticed him booting the ball around the field, tipped off the football coaches, and the rest is history. Courtesy of BuckysBadgers, one name jumped out at me: Jan Stenerud. He was an All-American ski jumper on a ski scholarship. In his first four seasons with Kansas City, he made 72%of his field goals when the league average was 50%. 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. Moseley scored on a then league-record 23 straight field. This story was originally published May 13, 2017, 4:50 PM. In the Chiefs' upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV, Stenerud's three field goals, including a then-Super Bowl record 48-yarder, accounted for the first nine points. How tall was Jan Stenerud? Stenerud went on to a highly successful 19-year NFL career. They kept both Gano and Butker on the active roster for the first week of the season, apparently hoping to trade one of them. Please ignore . He's already made two from 52 yards this season. An amateur placekicker attempts to kick a field goal. For that matter, Stenerud set a collegiate record that never will be broken: Technically, anyway, he attempted a 113-yard field goal. Gambling problem? The Chiefs have had decades of missteps after decades of excellence. In October he kicked a 59-yard field goal against Montana, the longest kick in football history to that point. Needless to say, he made a dramatic impact. He went out for spring practice in 1965 and made the team the following fall. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. He was a consensus All-America selection. See our ethics statement. At Montana State I had a coach, I mentioned him earlier, but I need to recognize him more. Stenerud loved soccer as a child, and played it well, but he was baffled by football and its odd pace. "Well I'll be a" said Craft, who had been watching from the bleachers. To this day, Stenerud rather nobly declines to comment on that play. The second kick: Thunk! He won Super Bowl IV under Chiefs head coach Hank Stram. If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. A kicker with three NFL teams from 1966-1985, Stenerud was at the head of a group of foreign-born athletes who revolutionized kicking in the 1960s and 1970s. I went to the coach and he explained it to me.". Like many famous people and celebrities, Jan Stenerud keeps his personal life private. When we got to Houston I got a special pair of shoes. The Packers have a perfectly good kicker! Weeks after his collegiate debut in 1965, Stenerud kicked a then-NCAA record 59-yard field goal also 3 yards longer than the then-NFL record. Jan, thanks very much for the honor of permitting me to present you here today and have you joinour other great players and Lamar Hunt in the National Football League Hall of Fame:Bobby Bell, Lenny Dawson, Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier. He would later go on to kick for the Green Bay.