Jeff Jaeger
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Jeff Todd Jaeger (born November 26, 1964) 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) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Jaeger 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 Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, and received All-American honors. In the NFL, he played for the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
,
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then aga ...
and
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
.


Early years

Jaeger was born in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
. He was a standout kicker for
Kent-Meridian High School Kent-Meridian High School is a high school located in Kent, Washington, United States, and part of the Kent School District. Kent-Meridian is one of four high schools in the Kent School District. It serves students in grades nine through twelve w ...
in
Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest municipality in greater Seattle and t ...
. Jaeger was not offered scholarships out of high school and chose to walk on the football team at the University of Washington.


College career

At Washington, Jaeger took over for outgoing All-American
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 ...
Chuck Nelson Charles LaVerne Nelson (born February 23, 1960) is a former professional football player, a placekicker in the National Football League. Nelson played college football for the University of Washington, and earned All-American honors. He played ...
in 1983 and earned Honorable Mention in the AP's All-America team as a freshman. Jaeger would repeat as an AP honorable mention All-America selection in his sophomore season. Following Jaeger's junior year he was selected as a 2nd Team All-American by Football News. Following his senior season, in which the Huskies went 8-3-1, Jaeger was a consensus All-American, selected as a 1st Team All-American by both the AP and
UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
. Jaeger is still the all-time Washington Husky scoring leader with 358 points. He held the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
record with 80 career
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 ...
until it was broken in 2003 by Billy Bennett of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
(Jaeger finished with 21 more field goals than the second leading kicker in
Husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...
history). In his senior season, Jaeger converted 17 of 21 field goal attempts, including six of seven of 40 yards or more, as well as converting 42 of 43 extra point tries.


Professional career

The Cleveland Browns selected Jaeger in the third round (82nd pick overall) of the
1987 NFL Draft The 1987 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 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Marq ...
, and he played for the Browns for a single season in . In his
rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
season, Jaeger broke all of the Browns rookie scoring records with 75 points despite playing in only ten games. His record for most field goal attempts by a rookie in a game was tied in 2017 by
Zane Gonzalez Holden Fortunato Gonzalez (born May 7, 1995) is an American football placekicker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State University and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in ...
. Jaeger was voted to his first
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
in 1991. He tied the Raiders franchise record for longest field goal with a 54-yarder in 1992 which was tied in 2018 by
Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Florida State ...
. In 1993, he led the NFL in scoring and set a new Raider record with 132 points. That same year he also led the NFL in complete field goals and tied the all-time NFL mark for field goal attempts. During a game against the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
, Jaeger kicked a 53-yard field goal to win the game. His kick was seemingly low and yet managed to cross the uprights. Jaeger led the Raiders in scoring during five consecutive seasons and consistently ranked in the top ten in the league in scoring. Jaeger eventually spent his last years with the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
. In 1999, Jaeger injured his hip, and was released, but was then re-signed two days later.


Personal life

Jaeger is married and has two daughters. He also volunteered as a kicking consultant at Eastlake High School.


Career regular season statistics

''Career high/best bolded''


See also

*
Washington Huskies football statistical leaders The Washington Huskies football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Washington Huskies football program in various categories. The Huskies represent the University of Washington in the NCAA Division I FBS Pac-12 Conferen ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaeger, Jeff 1964 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football placekickers Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Sportspeople from Kent, Washington Washington Huskies football players Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington