Erik Konrad Affholter (born April 10, 1966) is a former professional

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 ...

wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. As a 16-year-old

place kicker 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 ...

during his junior season of high school he broke a national record with a 64-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

, which at the time was the longest field goal kicked at any level. At the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, he was an All-American and established USC records for most receptions in a season, and in a career.

Early and personal life

He was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, to Conrad (a salesman) and Ruth Affholter, and is Jewish. In the early 1970s, the family moved to

Agoura, California Agoura () is an unincorporated community of Los Angeles County, which is located southeast of the city of Agoura Hills, California, adjacent to the city of Calabasas in Los Angeles County. Agoura was the historical name of the area, before much ...

. He later lived in

Anthem, Arizona Anthem is a master-planned community partially located within Phoenix and partially located within a census-designated place (CDP), New River. The community is entirely located in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, within the Phoenix Metr ...

High school

Affholter played football at Oak Park High School in

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

, California. As a 16-year-old

during his junior season he broke a national record with a 64-yard (59 meter)

in 1982, which at the time was the longest field goal kicked at any level. A sportswriter at the game estimated it could have gone 74 yards (68 meters). Asked about his kick, Affholter said: "I'd much rather catch touchdown passes." At the time, as a wide receiver he had caught more touchdown passes than any player in his high school conference. In addition to kicking field goals and

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

s, he played tailback, wide receiver,

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. In 1983 he was a ''USA Today'' All-USA high school football first-team All-American, All-

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

(CIF), and All-State; he was also a ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

of the year.

College

Affholter 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 ...

at the

(USC) for the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

as a wide receiver, though he had initially received a scholarship as a kicker. He was athletic, with a 36-inch (910 mm)

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

. On November 21, 1987, he made a controversial memorable fourth quarter winning

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

juggling

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

catch for a 17-13 upset over

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

's No. 5-ranked

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

that sent the unranked

1987 USC Trojans football team The 1987 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Larry Smith, the Trojans compiled an 8–4 record (7–1 against conf ...

to the

1988 Rose Bowl The 1988 Rose Bowl was the 74th edition of the college football bowl game, played on January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the USC Trojans 20–17 in a bowl rematch that was much closer than th ...

. He was named a member of the

1988 College Football All-America Team The 1988 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1988. The National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

, and a

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

All-Academic selection. In 1988 as a senior he led USC with 68 catches for 952 yards and eight touchdowns. He established USC records for most receptions in a season, and in a career (123). Upon graduation, he became a member of the USC Skull and Dagger Society.

National Football League

He was drafted in the fourth round of the

1989 NFL Draft The 1989 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 1989, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. On April 23, 1989, the Redskins then immediately traded him and two draft picks to the

for quarterback

Jeff Graham Jeffery Todd Graham (born February 14, 1969) is a retired professional American football player who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft. A 6'2", 206-lb wide receiver from Kettering, Archbishop Alt ...

. About a month later he broke his ankle in a pick-up basketball game in New York City, shortly before reporting to Packers training camp. He spent the entire season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He played the 1991 season in the NFL for the Packers. In 1992, he signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He retired in 1995 due to a career-ending knee injury.

Coaching

Since retiring, he has coached high school and youth football.

Honors

In 2016 he was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

References

External links

Pro-Football-Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Affholter, Erik 1966 births Living people Jewish American sportspeople People from Agoura Hills, California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California People from Maricopa County, Arizona American football placekickers American football wide receivers USC Trojans football players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from Detroit Players of American football from California Players of American football from Arizona 21st-century American Jews