Nicholas Mike-Mayer (MICK-uh-myur) (born March 1, 1950) 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 ...

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 ...

from

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

– 1982 for the Atlanta Falcons,

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 play ...

, and the Buffalo Bills. He made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year. He later played with the

San Antonio Gunslingers The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. His brother Steve Mike-Mayer also played in the NFL. Mike-Mayer would later go on to play in 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 ...

for the

Chicago Bruisers The Chicago Bruisers were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Rosemont Horizon. History Founding (1987) ...

and

Los Angeles Cobras The Los Angeles Cobras were a professional arena football team based in Los Angeles, California that played one season (1988) in the Arena Football League. History On March 16, 1988, it was announced that team would be nicknamed the Cobras, as ...

, earning All-Arena honors in 1987. Mike-Mayer's father had played soccer in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and left with his family to escape Communism, ending up in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where Mike-Mayer was born. The family emigrated to the United States and settled in Passaic, New Jersey, where he played football at

Passaic High School Passaic High School is a four-year community public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Passaic, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Passaic City School District. The school has ...

.Rosenberg, I. J
"Whatever happened to: Nick Mike-Mayer"
''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'', July 2, 2016. Accessed March 14, 2018. "His father was a star soccer player in Hungary before the country joined the Soviet bloc nation and he left for Italy. But the family wasn’t allowed to stay in Italy for long, having to choose between the United States and Sweden when Mike-Mayer was 14. The U.S. became the choice and he ended up at Passaic (N.J.) High School, where Oakland Raiders great Jack Tatum was three classes ahead of him."

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Just Sports Stats
1950 births Living people American football placekickers American people of Hungarian descent Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bruisers players Los Angeles Cobras players National Conference Pro Bowl players Passaic High School alumni Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from New Jersey San Antonio Gunslingers players Sportspeople from Passaic, New Jersey Temple Owls football players Italian emigrants to the United States {{Amfoot-kicker-stub