Joshua Norwood Jasper (born November 26, 1987) 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 ...

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 ...

who is currently 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 set the Tennessee state record for career high school

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 ...

s, with 44, and his longest field goal was 54 yards. In 2010, he was a Consensus College All-American placekicker for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

in his senior year, after leading the nation with 28 field goals. He had the best placekicking percentage in LSU history as of 2011. In July 2011, the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

signed him as a

Early years

Jasper was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He played football and soccer at Ridgeway High School in Memphis. Originally, he was a quarterback and wide receiver, before moving over to kicker for his junior and senior years. He was rated the No. 12 kicker in the U.S. by Scout.com as a senior. His longest field goal as a high schooler was 54 yards and he set the state's record for total career field goals, with 44.

College career

Jasper attended Louisiana State University, where he played for coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) an ...

team from 2007 to 2010. He completed 47 of 56 field goal attempts as a Tiger (83.9%), the best percentage in team history, and the second best in

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) history. During his junior season in 2009, he tied for the third-longest field goal in LSU history, at 52 yards. In a spring game, he kicked a 57-yard field goal. He also set a school record in September 2010 with five field goals in one game, against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, while tying the school record of 17 kicking points in one game. During his senior season in 2010, he led the country with twenty-eight field goals. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American placekicker, after receiving first-team honors from the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. In addition to kicking field goals, he punted as LSU's "pooch punter", kicked

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

s, and rushed a handful of times for

first down A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the f ...

s. He was also a first-team All-SEC selection, the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week (vs. Mississippi State, vs. Ole Miss), and the Lou Groza Award Star of the Week (vs. Mississippi State, vs. Alabama, vs. UL-Monroe). He capped his career by playing in the

2011 Senior Bowl The 2011 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2010 college football season, and prospects for the 2011 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The 62nd edition of the Senior Bo ...

Professional career

Despite his high school and college success, prognosticators were uncertain whether Jasper would be drafted in the April

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 ...

, as in the prior five years just nine kickers were drafted. NFL draft analyst Mike Detillier opined that he might be a later-round draftee. He was not picked in the draft. He had to wait until the NFL lockout ended before he could sign with a team as a free agent.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On July 26, 2011, Jasper said he had agreed to terms with the

on a rookie free agent deal. He was released on August 5.

Toronto Argonauts

On October 4, 2012, Jasper was signed by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He was released by the team on October 17, 2012.

New Orleans VooDoo

On November 19, 2013, Jasper was assigned to the

New Orleans VooDoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretis ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Memphis Express

On August 21, 2018, Jasper signed with the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stad ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. He was waived on February 27, 2019.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasper, John 1987 births Living people All-American college football players American football placekickers LSU Tigers football players Memphis Express (American football) players New Orleans VooDoo players Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee Tampa Bay Buccaneers players