Alex Henery (born August 17, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, and set an NCAA record for field goal accuracy with an 89.5% success rate. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

Early years

Henery was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. He attended

Omaha Burke High School Harry A. Burke High School is a secondary school located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The principal is Darren Rasmussen. The school's mascot is the Bulldog. Each year in May, the Nebraska State Track Meet is held at the school. Its stadi ...

and was one of the top walk-ons in Nebraska's 2006 class. He earned ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

'' first-team All-Nebraska and first-team

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in N ...

Super-State honors as a punter. Henery averaged 41.4 yards per punt as a senior, and also connected on 6-of-10 field goals and 37-of-38 extra-point tries. Henery contributed to Omaha Burke High School having a 7–5 finish and earning a trip to the state semifinals. He earned first-team all-state honors as a junior, averaging 41.7 yards per punt. He also played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and led Burke to a 14–3 record and the state playoffs. He received a scholarship offer to play soccer for

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

College career

Henery attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, and played for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the West Division of the Big Ten. Nebraska plays its home games at Memorial Stadium ...

team from 2007 to 2010. For most of his college career, he served as the punter and placekicker for the Cornhuskers, and received all-conference honors at both positions. He was a second-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

selection at placekicker in 2009 and 2010, and was previously an honorable mention selection in 2008; at punter, he was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2010, and received honorable mention honors in 2009. On November 28, 2008, he set a Nebraska team record when he kicked a 57-yard field goal in a 40–31 victory over the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

. During his four seasons as a Cornhusker, he set an NCAA career record by completing 89.5 percent of his attempted field goals. His total accuracy on combined field goals and extra points also set a new NCAA record of 96.7 percent. He is the all-time leading scorer in Nebraska history with 397 points.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles chose Henery in the fourth round of the

with the 120th overall pick. He began the season as the Eagles' starting

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

, and set a new NFL record for field goal accuracy by a rookie kicker. In Week 16, he kicked a career-best 51-yard field goal in a 20−7 win over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the hom ...

. In his second year with the Eagles, he set a franchise record by making 18 consecutive field goals, and went on to extend the record to 22 (then-longest active streak in the league), before just missing a 58-yard field goal in Week 14 against Tampa Bay. On August 30, 2014, Henery lost the starting

position to

Cody Parkey Cody Parkey (born February 19, 1992) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Auburn and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has also been a member of the Phi ...

and was released by the Eagles.

Detroit Lions

On September 22, 2014, the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

signed Henery to replace struggling rookie

Nate Freese Nathan A. Freese (born August 18, 1990) is a former American football placekicker. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Boston College. College career Freese chose to ...

. On October 6, a day after missing three field goals in the Lions' week five loss to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, including a potential game-winner late in the final minute, he was released by the team.

Post-career

Having retired from football, he currently works for Tetrad Property Group, a real estate company. Henery also occasionally instructs at summer kicking camps and gives private lessons.

Personal life

Henery is the son of Guy (computer business) and Mary Henery (a medical technologist at

). He has an older brother named Eric and a younger sister named Andrea. In 2011, he married his longtime girlfriend Johna. He has a son named Landen.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles biographyNebraska Cornhuskers football biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henery, Alex 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska American football placekickers American football punters Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Detroit Lions players