Van Leigh Tiffin (born September 6, 1965) 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 ...

Early life and education

Van Leigh Tiffin was born in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...

. He lived in

Red Bay, Alabama Red Bay is a city in Franklin County, Alabama, Franklin County, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1907; its western boundary line is integral with the state line between Mississippi and Alabama. The population was 3,232 at the 2020 census. ...

, and attended Red Bay High School, attracting notice for his football ability.

College career

Tiffin attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

where he was the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

's primary placekicker from 1983-1986. He holds the school record for longest converted

field goal 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 ...

, with a successful 57-

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

attempt against Texas A&M in 1985. He held the school record for converting 135

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

attempts until his son,

Leigh Tiffin Van Leigh Tiffin, Jr. (born August 3, 1988) is a former American football kicker. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Alabama. Named for his father, he is called Leigh to distin ...

, broke it in 2009 by one; Van never missed, however, going 135 for 135, while Leigh required 142 attempts. Tiffin's most notable kick came in the 1985

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

against in-state rival

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. His 52-yard field goal lifted the Crimson Tide to a 25–23 victory as time expired. It has become part of Alabama lore, known mainly as "The Kick."Sallee, Barrett
"Classic SEC Football: Alabama Tops Auburn in 1985 in 'the Kick'"
''Bleacher Report'', July 20, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2021. In 1986, Tiffin was named to the

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term ''All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Football ...

Professional career

Tiffin spent one season 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 ...

, with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

References

External links

Van Tiffin
at NFL.com

at Pro-Football-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiffin, Van 1965 births Living people American football placekickers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Miami Dolphins players People from Red Bay, Alabama National Football League replacement players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players