Taylor Mehlhaff (born August 25, 1985) 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 with ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the sixth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. 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 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

where he was a First-team All-American. Mehlhaff has also been a member of 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 ...

and

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

. Mehlhaff helped coach the Specialists at the University of Wisconsin before signing a contract with the Hartford Colonials. Mehlhaff served at the University of Tennessee as Special Teams Quality Control. As of February 2015 he joined the coaching staff of his Alma Matar, Wisconsin as a Special Teams Quality Control. Mehlhaff is the owner of Taylor Mehlhaff Kicking LLC. He is also the author of "Kicking for Success", a book for aspiring athletes. Mehlhaff was one of 30 coaches selected to the NFL Coaches Academy in 2017. In September 2018, Mehlhaff became a member of the Aberdeen Central High School Hall of Fame. Mehlhaff is married to former NFL cheerleader, Ashlyn "Falgout" Mehlhaff of the New Orleans Saints.

High School career

Mehlhaff was a star four sport athlete at Central High School in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen (Lakota language, Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre, South Dakota, Pierre. The city population was 2 ...

. He was the 2003 South Dakota Gatorade High School player of the year as Quarterback & Kicker. Other awards include: Riddell First-team All-American & USA Today 2nd Team All-American, 2004 Rivals.com #1 Ranked Prep Kicker in the Nation. Chris Sailer Kicking #1 ranked kicker in the country for the class of 2004.

College career

"Taylor Mehlhaff teamed with punter Ken DeBauche to form what many experts felt was the best kicking tandem in college football in recent years." -NFLDraftScout.com Mehlhaff was a 2-time All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

performer & 2-time University of Wisconsin Special Teams player of the year. Other awards include: Lou Groza Award Semi-finalist, 2007 First-team AFCA All-American & Sports Illustrated All-American, 3rd All-Time UW scoring leader behind NCAA career scoring leader

Montee Ball Montee Ball Jr. (born December 5, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin, where he was twice recognized as the be ...

and former Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Mehlhaff was a sixth round selection by the

in the

. The Saints released Mehlhaff during final cuts after he lost out to

Martin Gramatica Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

. Mehlhaff signed a 3-year contract worth $1.3 Million. In October 2008, Gramatica's career ended as he was placed on injured reserve, and the Saints re-signed Mehlhaff. Mehlhaff was later released in the 2008 season: the Saints replaced him with

Garrett Hartley Garrett Hartley (born May 16, 1986) is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Later that year he became the placekicker for the New Orleans Saints, for whom he ...

, who at the time was a rookie free agent.

Minnesota Vikings

Mehlhaff was signed to a futures contract by the

on December 31, 2008, and was waived on September 1, 2009.

Hartford Colonials

Mehlhaff kicked for the

of the United Football League in 2010 finishing 10-13 on field goal attempts.

External links

Just Sports StatsMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehlhaff, Taylor 1985 births Living people People from Aberdeen, South Dakota Players of American football from South Dakota American football placekickers Wisconsin Badgers football players New Orleans Saints players Minnesota Vikings players Hartford Colonials players