Nathaniel James Kaeding (born March 26, 1982) is an American former professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player who was a
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 ...
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 the majority of his career 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 ...
and retired after the
2012 season.
Playing
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 the
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...
, Kaeding earned
All-American honors and won the
Lou Groza Award
The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has be ...
, given annually to the top collegiate kicker in the nation. The Chargers drafted him in the third round of the
2004 NFL Draft. He was twice named to the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
, and he was a two-time
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
selection. However, he struggled in the playoffs, making just 8 of 15 (53.3%) field goals. He was released by San Diego midway through the 2012 season after a groin injury. He finished the season with 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 ...
before retiring.
Early years
Kaeding was born in
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...
. He attended
Iowa City West High School
Iowa City West High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa. It serves grades 9-12 for the Iowa City Community School District.
Athletics
The Trojans compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference in the following sports:
*Cross Cou ...
, and played
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
for the Iowa City West High Trojans. He won two state championships as the team's
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 ...
, and ''
The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...
'' named him Iowa High School Athlete of the Year in 2000.
[ In high school, he played in state championship games in three different sports: (]basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, football and soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
) at Iowa City West High School
Iowa City West High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa. It serves grades 9-12 for the Iowa City Community School District.
Athletics
The Trojans compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference in the following sports:
*Cross Cou ...
.
College career
Kaeding attended the University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
, where he played for the Hawkeyes from 2000 to 2003. Kaeding earned a teaching certificate in secondary education while at Iowa. He won the Lou Groza Award
The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has be ...
in 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and is the all-time leading scorer.
Professional career
San Diego Chargers
During the 2004 season, Kaeding attempted to become the first rookie since the 1970 season to attempt a game-winning 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 playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime. His 40-yard field goal attempt on a wet field missed, and the Chargers lost in the wild card round to the New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
, who won the game on a Doug Brien
Douglas Robert Zachariah Brien (born November 24, 1970) is a former American football placekicker and American businessman. He played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for seven teams: San Francisco, New Orleans, Indianapolis ...
field goal.[
Kaeding's postseason struggles continued in the 2006 NFL Playoffs, when he missed a potential game tying 54-yard field goal attempt against the ]New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. He had not missed a field goal at home in the previous two years prior to that 54-yard attempt. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
that season, where he kicked the game-winning 21-yard field goal with four seconds left in the game.
Kaeding suffered a fractured fibula
The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...
when he made a tackle on the opening kickoff against the Denver Broncos on December 24, 2007 and played the final 5 games of the season with the fractured fibula.
In the 2007 playoffs, Kaeding missed a field goal each in the Wild Card weekend game against Tennessee (which San Diego won) and against the Indianapolis Colts (which San Diego also won). His streak of consecutive playoff games with a missed field goal stood at 4 but was ended with a made field goal from 40 yards against New England.
In 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, Kaeding was tied for the NFL lead for most field goals made (32) and was one of only four to covert on over 90% of his attempts (91.4%).[ His season long of 54 yards came in a Week 15 victory over ]Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
. However, in the AFC Divisional Round against the New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
, Kaeding's postseason struggles continued as he missed all three of his attempted field goals, from 36, 57, and 40 yards; the Chargers lost the game 17–14.[ His three misses in the game were a career-high and matched his entire total from the regular season.] In his postseason career, Kaeding was 3-for-9 on field goal attempts at home and 8-for-15 (53.3%) overall in eight playoff games.[
In ]2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Kaeding was injured on the first play of the season when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, causing him to miss the duration of the season and necessitated the signing of Nick Novak
Nicholas Ryan Novak (born August 21, 1981) is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Maryland.
Novak has played for the Washington Redskins, A ...
. Kaeding ended the 2011 season as the NFL’s most accurate kicker of all-time, converting 86.5% of his field goals attempts. He competed for his job in 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and beat out Novak, who also had a strong showing. However, Kaeding suffered a right groin injury and was replaced by Novak in the week 4 game against Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
. After missing three games, Kaeding was placed 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 ...
with a minor injury designation that required the Chargers to release him after he recovered. On October 30, Kaeding became an unrestricted 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 ...
after he was released by the Chargers upon a physical; he collected over $1 million in termination pay. Kaeding made all seven of his field goal attempts with the Chargers in 2012, and left the team as the most accurate kicker in NFL history at 87% (180-of-207).[
]
Miami Dolphins
On December 21, 2012, Kaeding signed with 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 ...
, replacing incumbent Dan Carpenter
Daniel Roy Carpenter (born November 25, 1985) is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008 after playing college football for the University of Montana. He has also played for ...
, who was out with a groin injury. He missed two of three field goals as a Dolphin, making a 45-yard attempt while missing from 41 and having a 46-yard attempt blocked. His career percentage dropped to 86.2, falling to second behind Mike Vanderjagt
Michael John Vanderjagt ( ; born March 24, 1970) is a Canadian former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Colts' placekicker from 1998 to ...
(86.5).[
]
Retirement
On April 2, 2013, Kaeding signed with 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 ...
. However, he suffered another groin injury during the offseason. On May 2, he retired from the NFL, citing "chronic issues" with his groin muscle.
In 2019, he worked with the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
as a part-time kicking consultant.
Personal life
In January 2008, Kaeding began writing weekly movie reviews for CorridorBUZZ, a daily arts & entertainment web site serving the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids, Iowa corridor. He co-owns a restaurant in Iowa City called Short's Burgers as well, as another named Pullman Bar and Diner.
Nate and his wife, Samantha (née Gervich), have two sons, Jack and Wyatt, and a daughter, Tess.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaeding, Nate
1982 births
Living people
American football placekickers
Iowa Hawkeyes football players
Miami Dolphins players
San Diego Chargers players
All-American college football players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Sportspeople from Iowa City, Iowa
Players of American football from Iowa
Iowa City West High School alumni