Neil William Rackers (born August 16, 1976) 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 wi ...

player who was a placekicker 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) for twelve seasons. He played college football for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. Rackers was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

, and also played for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, and

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 ...

Early years

Rackers attended Aquinas-Mercy High School in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and was a student and a letterman in football, soccer and baseball. In football, he was a two-year letterman and an All-Conference selection. In soccer, Rackers led his team to consecutive state titles and was an All-State selection. In baseball, he was an All-Conference selection.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Rackers was drafted in the sixth round of the

with the 169th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played three seasons for the team, making 44 out of 67 field goals.

Arizona Cardinals

Rackers reached and or surpassed 20

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...

s in a season twice in his career, and once had a streak of 31 consecutive

field goals 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 ...

made before missing a 43-yarder in 2005 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

. On New Year's Day in 2006, Rackers kicked his 40th field goal of the season, an NFL record. He was rewarded with a spot in that year's

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 ...

. He is also one of the few players in NFL history to attempt a

fair catch kick The fair catch kick is a rule at the professional and high school levels of American football that allows a team that has just made a fair catch to attempt a free kick from the spot of the catch. The kick must be either a place kick or a drop kic ...

Houston Texans

Rackers was signed by the Houston Texans on April 5, 2010, replaced Kris Brown later for the 2010 season, and made his first two field goals as a member of the Texans on September 12.

Washington Redskins

Rackers signed a one-year contract with the

on April 24, 2012 and competed with

Graham Gano Graham Clark Gano (born April 9, 1987) is an American football placekicker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State and was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free age ...

for a spot on the team. On August 27, the Redskins released Rackers.

Retirement

Billy Cundiff William Ambrose Cundiff (born March 30, 1980) is a former American football placekicker. He played college football for Drake University, and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2002. College career Cundiff played for ...

's charity confirmed that Rackers retired and would join his cause to cure ovarian cancer.

Career regular season statistics

''Career high/best bolded''

Life away from football

Rackers is the special teams coach at De Smet Jesuit in the

area. He also owns Kick it Promos and is a radio announcer on 101 ESPN in St. Louis.

References

External links

Neil Rackers on ESPN.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rackers, Neil 1976 births Living people Players of American football from Missouri American football placekickers Illinois Fighting Illini football players National Conference Pro Bowl players Cincinnati Bengals players Arizona Cardinals players Houston Texans players Washington Redskins players