Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Guys like Mark Moseley and Don Cockroft hung around for a long time, but who was the last regular straight-on/toe punch kicker to enter the NFL? Was it Rick Danmeier replacing Fred Cox on the 1978 Vikings?

I think Steve Cox came along a few years after Danmeier.

Citizen wrote:I think Steve Cox came along a few years after Danmeier.

Cox was a punter/long-distance FG specialist...not really a regular kicker.

Russell Erxleben and Tom Birney both debuted in 1979. Erxleben only was a kicker for one game, but he was a regular kicker. Tom Birney played for the Packers in 1979 preseason, was cut, then brought back when Chester Marcol was hurt. Birney was brought back again for part of the 1980 season again after Marcol was cut. Birney may be the last as far as regular season NFL debut.

Hair-splitting aside, Cox debuted on 9-7-81, Birney on 11-11-79, and Erxleben on 9-2-79.

I have to go with Birney, since he actually had a kicking job and wasn't like Cox who was brought in to try 57-yard field goals back in the days when a 57-yard field goal was a 1-in-15 proposition and a punter might have a better shot at it.

Cox started out as a kicker in college, though punted pretty much exclusively upon transferring to the Razorbacks (Ish Ordonez was their regular kicker and terrific the year Cox arrived)

Surprised somebody didn't give him a chance to be their regular kicker in the pros. Leads me to believe he was perpetually erratic under 40 yards and was never able to fix it