Jeff Wolfert (born October 22, 1985) is an
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 ...
who is 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 made his professional debut with the
Omaha Nighthawks
The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...
of the
United Football League. In three years as the
Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...
'
place-kicker, Wolfert was a perfect 185-for-185 on extra point attempts and set the school's single-season and career scoring records.
Early years
Before enrolling in college, Wolfert's career as a kicker nearly came to an end as the result of injury. As an underclassmen at Blue Valley West High School in Kansas, Wolfert excelled in soccer and diving. As a senior, he won a spot on the football team as a kicker. In his first and only high school football game, Wolfert ended up breaking his hip trying to drive the football into the endzone on a kick-off.
[
He also played soccer and was on the swim team, and was a standout prep diver, finishing in the finals of the state championships multiple years and gaining other various accolades.
]
College career
After graduating from high school, Wolfert enrolled at University of Missouri on a diving scholarship. He became an all-conference diver as a freshman, but was determined to play football again.[ He tried out for the team as a ]sophomore
In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...
walk-on in 2006 and made the team. He was Missouri's starting place-kicker from 2006 to 2008.
In 2006, Wolfert won a spot on the team as a walk-on and proceeded to convert all 45 extra point attempts and go 18-of-20 on field goal attempts. In his first year as starter, Wolfert set University of Missouri single-season records for field goals (18), points by a kicker (99), consecutive PATs (45) and field-goal percentage (90%). In April 2007, Wolfert was rewarded for his 2006 performance with a full football scholarship.[
In 2007, he set the all-time ]Missouri Tigers football
The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Missouri's ...
single-season scoring record with 130 points on 21 field goals (21-of-25) and 67 extra points (67-of-67).[ In his first two years at Missouri, Wolfert compiled a perfect 112-for-112 record in extra point attempts.] In 2007, Wolfert also helped lead his team to the Big 12 North championship, a #1 ranking in the BCS poll at the end of November 2007, and a berth in the Cotton Bowl.[
In 2008, Wolfert completed his collegiate careers by scoring with 133 points, going 73-for-73 on extra point attempts and 20-of-27 on field goals.
In three years as the Tigers' place-kicker, he never missed an extra-point attempt (185-for-185) and broke the school's all-time scoring record.][ At the conclusion of his college career, Wolfert told an interviewer that his records were a tribute to his team:]"I think it's a testament to our offense. We're really powerful and always in the red zone, so when they've been short of touchdowns, I've been able to knock down three points. A lot of touchdowns, too, and extra points with them."
He was selected by ''Sports Illustrated'' in 2007 as an Honorable Mention player. He was also selected in 2007 as a first-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 ...
player by the ''Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'', ''Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'', '' Ft. Worth Star-Telegram'', and ''Waco Tribune-Herald
The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity.
Background
The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...
''. In three years as the Tigers' kicker, Wolfert never missed an extra point. At the end of the 2007 season, ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' also published a feature story on Wolfert, noting that his "extremely accurate right leg" had provided Missouri with the margin of victory in key games. When asked by the ''USA Today'' about his streak of 87 consecutive extra points without a miss, Wolfert said:""It's in the back of my head, but I try not to think about it too much because I don't want to jinx it. I'm just thinking about the snap and the hold, and really just keeping my head down, because I know if I keep my head down good things are going to happen."
College Awards
* Lou Groza Award Semifinalist (2006)
* Hon. Men. All-Big 12 (Associated Press, Coaches) (2006)
* Team Walk-On Player of the Year (2006)
* 1st-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2006)
* Hon. Men. All-American (Sports Illustrated) (2007)
* 1st-Team All-Big 12 (Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Waco Tribune-Herald) (2007)
* 2nd-Team All-Big 12 (Coaches) (2007)
* Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 26) (2007)
* 1st-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2007)
* Lou Groza Award Semifinalist (2008)
* 1st Team All-Big 12 (Associated Press, Coaches) (2008)
* Holds several Missouri school records- including single-season and career scoring records
Professional career
Wolfert had a minicamp tryout with the Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, but was not signed. He also had tryouts with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons. In 2010, he worked out with the New York Jets.
Wolfert was frustrated with not getting a chance in the NFL, and was actively pursuing a job. Seth Wickersham of ESPN attributed Wolfert's unemployment to a trend in the NFL in which teams valued kicking strength over accuracy. Wolfert mentioned that in each of his tryouts, the kicker liked the most was the one who could kick the highest and farthest, and coaches did not seem to care about accuracy. Saying of his quest for an NFL job, "They just keep saying, 'Keep knocking on the door. Your opportunity will come. Don't be discouraged.' That's kind of how it is. If you're willing to put forth the effort and the right offer comes in, hopefully you can make the best of it."
Omaha Nighthawks
Wolfert was a placekicker with the United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks
The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...
in 2010. He finished the 2010 season as the UFL's most accurate kicker, converting 9 of 10 field goals (90% accuracy rate). He was also named to the 2010 All-www.ufl-football.com Team.
Cleveland Browns
On July 26, 2011, Wolfert signed with the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
. He was waived on August 28.
Wolfert signed a reserve/future contract with the Browns on January 3, 2012.
Cleveland Browns official website He was waived on August 18, 2012.
Wolfert spent the 2014 season as kicker for the FXFL Blacktips, Blacktips, an experimental team in the Fall Experimental Football League
The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL).
The lea ...
.
See also
* List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
The list of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders identifies the NCAA major college scoring leaders. Beginning with the 1937 college football season, when the NCAA began maintaining official records, the list includes each year's lea ...
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfert, Jeff
1985 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Overland Park, Kansas
Players of American football from Kansas
American football placekickers
Missouri Tigers football players
Omaha Nighthawks players
Cleveland Browns players
Blacktips (FXFL) players