Steven John McLaughlin (born October 2, 1971) is a former American college and 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) and 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 ...

. 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 the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, 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 ...

. A third-round choice in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 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 April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

, he played for the NFL's

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, as well as five different Arena League teams over an 11-year career.

Early years

McLaughlin was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Steve McLaughlin
Retrieved February 8, 2012. After playing soccer growing up, he attended

Sahuaro High School Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, United States, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Br ...

in Tucson,databaseFootball.com, Players
Steve McLaughlin
. Retrieved February 8, 2012. and played for the Sahuaro Cougars

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 ...

team.

College career

While attending the University of Arizona, McLaughlin played for the

Arizona Wildcats football The Arizona Wildcats football program represents the University of Arizona (UA) in the sport of American college football. Arizona competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac- ...

team from 1990 to 1994. As a senior in 1994, he won the Lou Groza Award awarded annually to the outstanding college placekicker in America. He was also recognized as All-Pac-10 and consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

The St. Louis Rams selected McLaughlin in the third round (82nd pick overall), and he played for the Rams for a single season in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. He appeared in eight games, attempted 16 field goals and completed eight of them; His first official FG was a 27 yarder against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field in the 4th Quarter. The Rams won the game 17–14. He also made a field goal late in the 4th quarter as the Rams went on to beat the Chicago Bears 27–24 in their first meeting that year. He was a perfect 17-of-17 on points after touchdowns. He was signed by 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 ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in (NFL Year, 1997). McLaughlin subsequently played for 8 seasons in the AFL with 5 different

teams: the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

from 1998 to 2001; Buffalo Destroyers in 2002; the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

from 2003 to 2005; the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

in 2005; and the Arizona Rattlers in 2005. He played in two Arena Bowls with the Nashville Kats and was named 2nd Team All-Arena in 2002 with the Buffalo Destroyers.

Band

McLaughlin formed a band in college named "Pet The Fish" opening for acts such as Weezer and Dave Mathews Band. The band broke Up shortly before his NFL and AFL career however in 2010 released a solo album under the band name "Steve McLaughlin" titled "No More Record Stores." It was mixed by legendary producer

Clif Norrell Clif Norrell is an American record producer, recording engineer, music mixer, and musician. He has worked with many prominent artists including Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Jeff Buckley, No Doubt, Rush, Faith No More, Shania Twain, Mick Jagger, ...

at Casa Zuma Studios in Malibu, CA. One of the tracks circulated on a Right Choice Ford commercial appearing in spots on TV and cinema in the US and Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Steve 1971 births Living people All-American college football players American football placekickers Arizona Wildcats football players Players of American football from Tucson, Arizona St. Louis Rams players Portland Forest Dragons players Nashville Kats players Buffalo Destroyers players Georgia Force players Orlando Predators players Arizona Rattlers players