Samuel James Ficken (born December 14, 1992) is an

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 ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

of 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). 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

in 2015, and has also been a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

High school career

Ficken, a former soccer player, was born in

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

, and attended Valparaiso High School, where he was named first-team Associated Press Class 5A all-state kicker. He also was a member of the all-area team. Ficken made 13 field goals during his senior year, including a school-record 52-yard kick. He also had 45

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

s on kickoffs.

College career

Ficken saw little action in 2011 behind veteran starting kicker, Anthony Fera. He hit an extra point after touchdown in the opener against Indiana State, as well as kicking off once. He missed his first collegiate field goal attempt in a game against Temple, but rebounded with a completed field goal against Eastern Michigan. Besides two more kickoffs, Ficken did not play for the remainder of the year. Ficken became the starting kicker in 2012. Ficken started the year off poorly, missing 7 of his first 11 field goals (including one from the one yard line in a game against Illinois, as well as missing 4 out of 5 in a one-point loss to Virginia). However, after being mentored by starting

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 ...

placekicker

Robbie Gould Robert Paul Gould III (; born December 6, 1982) is an American football placekicker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played with the Chicago Bears from 2005 to 2015, during which he became the franchise's all ...

, he finished the year by hitting ten straight successful field goals, putting him 14 for 21 on the year. Ficken also completed 39 of 41 extra-point attempts (one was blocked, the other one was a miss). He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week on November 26, 2012, after a 3 for 3 game against the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

, one of which was the game-winning kick in overtime. Ficken made 15 consecutive field goals from October 27, 2012, to September 14, 2013, breaking the Penn State record for consecutive field goals made. To start the 2014 season, Ficken kicked a last-second, game-winning field goal in the

Croke Park Classic College football in Ireland began initially in 1988 as part of a promotional campaign to mark the Dublin millennium celebrations. Dubbed the Emerald Isle Classic, it was the first NCAA-sanctioned American college football game played in Europe. ...

. During the Pinstripe Bowl against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, Ficken tied the game with a 44-yard field goal and kicked the game-winning point after touchdown in overtime.

Professional career

After going undrafted during the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

, Ficken attended the

minicamp in May 2015, but was not signed.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Ficken was signed by the

on July 25, 2016. On August 29, 2016, he was waived by the Jaguars.

Kansas City Chiefs

On August 8, 2017, Ficken signed with the

after an injury to

Cairo Santos Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Los Angeles Rams

On December 20, 2017, Ficken was signed by the

to replace injured

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 ...

kicker Greg Zuerlein. On April 16, 2018, Ficken signed his exclusive rights tender, staying with the Rams. He was waived on August 31, 2018. Ficken was re-signed on September 17 following another injury to Greg Zuerlein. On September 23, 2018, Ficken made five extra points in a 35–23 win over the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. Ficken was released by the Rams on October 2, 2018, after just two games, in which he missed two of his three field goal attempts.

Seattle Seahawks

On January 11, 2019, Ficken signed a reserve/future contract with the

. He was waived on April 13, 2019.

Green Bay Packers

On April 15, 2019, Ficken was claimed off waivers by the

. On August 31, 2019, Ficken was waived by the Packers.

New York Jets

Ficken was signed by 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 ...

on September 10, 2019. Ficken re-signed with the Jets on April 23, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on November 24, 2020, with a groin injury. On December 19, 2020, Ficken was activated off of injured reserve. On January 2, 2021, Ficken was waived by the Jets in favor of

Chase McLaughlin Chase Joseph McLaughlin (born April 9, 1996) is an American football placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Illinois Fighting Illini football, Illinois. After going undrafted ...

for the final game of the season. Ficken had missed a field goal and an extra point against 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 ( ...

in his last game with the Jets. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jets on January 4, 2021. He was waived on July 30, 2021.

Tennessee Titans

On August 1, 2021, Ficken was claimed off waivers by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 11, 2021.

Detroit Lions

On October 11, 2022, Ficken signed with the practice squad of the

References

External links

New York Jets bioJacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficken, Sam 1992 births Living people American football placekickers Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Kansas City Chiefs players Los Angeles Rams players New York Jets players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Valparaiso, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area Tennessee Titans players