Placekicker

In American football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring field goals and extra points.

George Blanda, Lou Groza, Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung are prominent examples of players who were stars at other positions as well as being known for their kicking abilities.

When the one-platoon system was abolished in the 1940s, the era of "two-way" players gave way to increased specialization, teams would employ a specialist at the punter or kicker position.

[1] However, there is some evidence that Ken Strong and Phil Martinovich, both in 1939, and Mose Kelsch, in 1933 and 1934, may have preceded Agajanian as players who spent their seasons doing nothing but kicking.

[2] Because of the difference in techniques needed, to avoid leg fatigue, and to reduce the risk of injury, on the professional level most teams employ separate players to handle the jobs.

The placekicker usually will only punt when the punter is injured, and vice versa (one player often handles both jobs in the Canadian Football League, which has smaller active rosters than in the NFL).

Before the modern era of pro football, this was also the case for professional teams, particularly when most placekicks were still made in the "straight on" style outlined below.

"[5] The presence of foreign born-and-raised players in the highest levels of gridiron football has largely been limited to placekickers, and more recently to punters from Australia as well.

Notably Tom Landry recruited several soccer players from Latin America, such as Efren Herrera and Raphael Septien, to compete for the job of placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys.

There is only one special teams player (including punters, return specialists and long snappers) to ever win the NFL's MVP – Mark Moseley in 1982.

Despite a higher share of kickers in the NFL being foreign nationals than on any other position (except punter), the kicking game is not always the strong suit of teams outside North America.

The NFL Europe was notable for employing former professional association football players as placekickers, some of them becoming fan favorites, like Manni Burgsmüller.

This method of kicking was introduced in 1957 by Fred Bednarski[8][9] and popularized in the 1960s by kickers like Pete Gogolak and his younger brother Charlie, the first placekicker to be drafted in the first round.

[10] Previously, most placekickers used a "straight on" style, which required the use of a special shoe that is extremely rigid and has a flattened and slightly upturned toe.