James Patrick "Happy" Feller (born June 13, 1949) 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 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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the fourth round of the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

and played for one season for the team. He played for two seasons with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. 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 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early years

Feller was nicknamed "Happy" because he smiled often as a child.

College career

Feller played

for the Texas Longhorns. He beat out Rob Layne, who started in 1967, for the starting kicker job before the start of the 1968 season. In 1968, Feller went 8-of-16 for field goals and 30-of-32 for extra point attempts. He made a 53-yarder against

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, a school record. In the season-opener in 1969 against the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, Feller kicked a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and went two-for-two for extra point attempts. In week two against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, he converted all seven extra points. He went seven-for-seven for extra point attempts on October 4 against

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. In the

Red River Shootout The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tota ...

against Oklahoma on October 11, Feller kicked two field goals of 27 and 21 yards and converted all three extra point attempts as the Longhorns beat the Sooners 27–17. He had a 24-yard field goal and converted all four extra point attempts against

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

on October 25. Feller made a 32-yard field goal and converted all six extra point attempts against SMU on November 1. Against Baylor on November 8, he made all five extra point attempts. He went five-for-six on extra point attempts against

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

on November 15. Against the Texas A&M Aggies on November 27, Feller made a 43-yard field goal and converted four-of-seven extra point attempts. He converted on his only extra point attempt to give the Longhorns the win in the "Game of the Century" against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

on December 6. In the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

against Notre Dame on January 1, Feller went three-for-three for extra point attempts.

NFL career

Feller was drafted in the fourth round of the

by the

. He was the first kicker selected in the draft. He played in 21 total games. He attempted 20 kicks in his rookie season, making just six. His longest field goal was from 50 yards out. It was his only season with the Eagles, as he spent the other two seasons with the Saints. In his second season, he went 6-for-11 in field goals, with his longest being from 46 yards. The 1973 season was his last professional season. He went 4-for-12 on field goals, with his longest being from 18 yards out.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feller, Happy 1949 births Living people American football placekickers Texas Longhorns football players Philadelphia Eagles players New Orleans Saints players People from Fredericksburg, Texas Players of American football from Texas