Michael Walter Michel (born August 4, 1954) 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 ...

punter who played for two seasons 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 ...

(NFL). 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

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. He was drafted by the

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

in the fifth round of the

1977 NFL Draft The 1977 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 May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

, and played for the Dolphins in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and 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 ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Professional career

Michel was drafted in the fifth round, 113th overall, by the

. After performing as the Dolphins' primary punter in 1977, he was released before the start of the 1978 season. The

signed him before a week 7 game against 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 ...

due to poor play by their previous punter Rick Engles. Michel lined up to punt five times in his Eagles debut, and had three punts go for 9 yards, 26 yards, and one complete miss. In a week 12 game against the New York Giants on November 19, 1978, the Eagles' regular

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 ...

Nick Mike-Mayer Nicholas Mike-Mayer (MICK-uh-myur) (born March 1, 1950) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League from 1973– 1982 for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills. He made the Pro Bowl ...

suffered fractured ribs early in the game, ending his season. Michel took over his placekicking duties for the rest of the game, converting his only

point after touchdown 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 ...

(PAT) attempt. The Eagles chose not to sign a new kicker following the dramatic win, opting instead to go with Michel as the primary placekicker for the remainder of the season. Michel went 8-of-11 on PATs the rest of the season, including missing one in each of the final three games of the season. He did not attempt a

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 ...

in the regular season. The Eagles made the playoffs for the first time since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, securing a game in Atlanta against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the Wild Card round on December 24, 1978. In the game, Michel missed a PAT and a field goal before lining up to kick a potential game-winning 34-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. He missed the kick, and the Eagles lost 14−13. Talking to reporters after the game, he said "This is something I've got to live with for the rest of my life." He was released after the season and did not play in another NFL game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Mike Living people 1954 births American football punters Stanford Cardinal football players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players