Patriots' drafted punters and kickers from late 70s-80s

[Gary Najman]

Checking the NFL Draft from the late 70s and into the late 80s, it stands outs the quantity of punters and kickers the New England Patriots drafted in those years:

1979 - Eddie Hare (P) - 4th round (replacing veteran Jerrel Wilson and Mike Patrick).
1980 - Mike Hubach (P) - 11th round (replacing Eddie Hare).
1981 - Ken Naber (K) - 8th round (didn't play a regular season game).
1982 - Brian Clark (K) - 10th round (only played one regular season game for Tampa Bay).
1983 - Mike Bass (K) - 6th round (didn't play a regular season game).
1984 - Bruce Kallmeyer (K) - 7th round (didn't play a regular season game).
1986 - Don McAulay (K) - 12th round (didn't play a regular season game).
1987 - Carlos Reveiz (K) - 11th round (didn't play a regular season game).
1988 - Teddy Garcia (K) - 4th round (replacing veteran Tony Franklin).

With undrafted punter Rich Camarillo from 1981-1987 the position was stable, but why all those kickers drafted? I know John Smith retired after the 1983 season and was oft-injurede, but it was a lot of kickers drafted by the same team (7 in eight seasons!).

[sheajets]

They also drafted Gostkowski in the 4th round in 2006. He's worked out quite well and was the top kicker coming out of college that year. They weren't going to leave the position in uncertain hands after Vinatieri

Wonder if Carlos Reveiz the brother of Fuad?

Could be that they were just trying to snag what they perceived were top kickers/punters coming out of college at the time with the rationale that it could leave them quite well positioned regarding special teams for a long time and give them that slight advantage you need in close games...having a punter that can really pin an offense back or a kicker who can make 45+ yarders without much trouble in that era would give you a nice edge over the opposition. Thing is they didn't hit paydirt on any of these guys

[Rupert Patrick]

They also gave the kicking duties to free agent rookie Nick Lowery in 1978 when John Smith was out for two games.

[sheajets]

They also gave the kicking duties to free agent rookie Nick Lowery in 1978 when John Smith was out for two games.

Lowery missed his only kick (40+ yarder) but made all his XP's. He was out of the NFL in 1979 before resurfacing with the Chiefs in 1980 and holding down that job for 14 years. The only guys who kicked field goals for KC between 1980-1993 were Eddie Murray (very briefly in 92) and James Hamrick

Hamrick I remember had a big game winning kick in college and had his 15 minutes of fame. Wents 2/2 on FG's in the NFL and 4/4 on XP's. Yet never kicked in the pros again other than his successful cup of coffee appearance for the Chiefs

[Bryan]

With undrafted punter Rich Camarillo from 1981-1987 the position was stable, but why all those kickers drafted? I know John Smith retired after the 1983 season and was oft-injurede, but it was a lot of kickers drafted by the same team (7 in eight seasons!).

Very odd. I remember Tony Franklin being pretty good for the Patriots after John Smith left, although in 1983 the Patriots used a Zendejas that I had never heard of before (Joaquin?). When Franklin left the Patriots had a terrible time in 1988 with their kickers. Patriot games consisted of tough defense, John Stephens getting 4 yards per carry, and every game seemingly being decided by a FG. Teddy Garcia was uniquely awful, and Jason Staurovsky wasn't much better but at least he wasn't named "Teddy Garcia".

I guess the other weird part of not only why the Patriots drafted all those kickers, is how none of those guys ever latched on to any other NFL team. Its like not only were the Patriots wasting draft picks on kickers, they weren't even picking any decent kickers with those picks.

[sheajets]

With undrafted punter Rich Camarillo from 1981-1987 the position was stable, but why all those kickers drafted? I know John Smith retired after the 1983 season and was oft-injurede, but it was a lot of kickers drafted by the same team (7 in eight seasons!).

Very odd. I remember Tony Franklin being pretty good for the Patriots after John Smith left, although in 1983 the Patriots used a Zendejas that I had never heard of before (Joaquin?). When Franklin left the Patriots had a terrible time in 1988 with their kickers. Patriot games consisted of tough defense, John Stephens getting 4 yards per carry, and every game seemingly being decided by a FG. Teddy Garcia was uniquely awful, and Jason Staurovsky wasn't much better but at least he wasn't named "Teddy Garcia".

I guess the other weird part of not only why the Patriots drafted all those kickers, is how none of those guys ever latched on to any other NFL team. Its like not only were the Patriots wasting draft picks on kickers, they weren't even picking any decent kickers with those picks.

And let's not forget Missin' Scott Sisson who had a disastrous 1993 season. Finally Parcells would bring in Matt Bahr to stabilize the position before Vinatieri showed up

[Reaser]

Teddy Garcia was uniquely awful, and Jason Staurovsky wasn't much better but at least he wasn't named "Teddy Garcia".

I was young when he was kicking for New England so I remember Garcia more for his time in the WLAF. Horrible. Especially 1992 with the Dragons, always figured he'd miss. Speculative but I'm pretty sure Bicknell had to keep him as their kicker all season just because of his last name.

Also vaguely remember him in Arena Football because I was so shocked not only to see him playing Arena ball after the World League season ended but that anyone would have him as their kicker -- vague memory but specifically remember him being horrible there, too.

[Jay Z]

Bengals drafted 9 from 1972-81
1972 - #17 David Green - kicked and punted for Cincy and Tampa Bay for a few years
1975 - #5 Jeff West - punted for Cardinals and Chargers
1975 #15 Greg Enright - did not play in NFL
1976 #2 Chris Bahr - long time kicker, mostly for Raiders. Bengals traded him for Jim Breech.
1976 #10 Tom Klaban - did not play in NFL
1976 #14 Greg Coleman - long time punter, mostly with Vikings
1977 #10 Bob Bialik - did not play in NFL
1980 #10 Sandro Vitiello - kicked in 2 games for 1980 Bengals
1981 #11 Rex Robinson - kicked in 3 games for 1982 Patriots

This does not include Pat McInally, long time Bengals punter who also played WR.

[RRMarshall]

How could anyone forget "Suitcase" Freddie Steinfort who filled the gap for awhile in 1983 after they released John Smith? The nickname came from his travels from team to team. A great kicker at Boston College, he had one really good season in Denver in 1980 but was never able to stay healthy and consistent. Pats GM Pat Sullivan once told me one time when Steinfort missed a FG some fans in the lower level of the end zone threw a suitcase on the field, and Sullivan wondered how in the world they got the suitcase through the security at the front gate!

Honorable mentions go to Mike "Super Foot" Walker in 1972 and my all-time favorite David Posey who filled in for Smith in 1978 and kicked the GW FG against Buffalo in the second-to-last game of the season to clinch the Pats first ever division title (one of the few he made that year....).

[BD Sullivan]

During the first era of the Browns, the kicking game was an area they rarely had to worry about:

1946-59: Lou Groza
1960: Sam Baker
1961-67: Groza
1968-80: Don Cockroft
1981: Dave Jacobs (4 games)
1981-89: Matt Bahr (Mark Moseley in 1986 after Bahr was injured)
1990: Jerry Kauric
1991-95: Matt Stover

Then they had Phil Dawson for so many years when they were horrible, but have stumbled badly since he left.