Patrick Joseph Leahy (born March 19, 1951) is a former

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) for 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 ...

. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

Early years

Leahy attended Augustinian Academy. He accepted a soccer scholarship from

. As a starting

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he helped lead the school to 4 soccer NCAA finals, winning 3 national championships, while also receiving All-American honors. In 1994, he was inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Inductee.

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Leahy was signed as an

undrafted 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 ...

by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

after the 1973 NFL Draft, having participated in an open try-out, even though he didn't play

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 ...

in college. In 1974, he was re-signed to be a part of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. Even though the Cardinals made the unusual move of keeping 2 kickers on the final roster, they chose to keep

Jim Bakken James LeRoy Bakken (born November 2, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a punter and placekicker for the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the ...

and fellow rookie and ex-soccer player

Sergio Albert Sergio Albert (born October 28, 1951) is a Mexican former American football placekicker who played one season with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football at U.S. International University. Early years ...

. Leahy was waived on August 29.

New York Jets

In 1974 he was signed by the

as 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 ...

, after

Bobby Howfield Robert Michael Howfield (born 3 December 1936) is an English former professional sportsman who played both association football and American football. Early and personal life Howfield was born in Watford, and his son Ian Howfield kicked for the ...

suffered a leg injury. He began on a standby basis until replacing Howfield. In 1979 he suffered a right knee sprain during a practice while running pass patterns simulating an opposing team's wide receiver. He played in only 6 games after being placed on the

injured reserve list 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 ...

. In 1985 he set the franchise record for the longest field goal of 55 yards. In 1986, he set the franchise record for consecutive successful

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 with 22, which was broken by

Jay Feely Thomas James "Jay" Feely (born May 23, 1976) is a former American football placekicker and current sportscaster. He started his career with the Florida Bobcats in the Arena Football League as a street free agent in 1999 before playing for sever ...

in 2009. In 1991, he played in 15 games but was replaced by

Raul Allegre Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may r ...

for the season finale because of a sciatic nerve condition. On July 6, 1992, he announced his retirement because of a recurring sciatic nerve condition in his right leg. At the time, he ranked third in scoring in NFL history, was the Jets all-time leading scorer, with 1,470 points and scored 100 points or more in seven seasons. Over the course of his career, Leahy completed 71.4% of his field goal attempts and 95.5% of his extra points. He currently ranks 24th on the list of highest

NFL career scoring leaders The top 25 scorers in National Football League history are all placekickers. Statistics include regular season scoring only. List Key ''Updated through the week 3 of 2022 season.'' Non-kickers The top five scoring non-kickers in NFL history ...

Career regular season statistics

''Career high/best bolded''

Personal life

Leahy and his wife, Colleen, currently live in St. Louis and have three children: Lizzy, Cullen, and the youngest Nora.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Pat 1951 births Living people Soccer players from St. Louis Players of American football from St. Louis American football placekickers Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players New York Jets players Association football midfielders American soccer players