Max John Kidd (born August 22, 1961 in Springfield,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

) is a former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

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 wi ...

punter 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). He played 15 seasons for the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, 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 p ...

, the Detroit Lions and the New York Jets. Kidd was the highest-selected punter in Bills history. They chose him in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL Draft from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He was the starting quarterback and punter at

Findlay High School Findlay High School is a public high school in Findlay, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Findlay City School District, and the second largest high school in northwest Ohio. Their nickname is the Trojans. They are members of the Three River ...

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 census. It is home ...

, from which he graduated in 1980. Kidd was a first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All American in college and won the

Big Ten Conference 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 ...

Medal of Honor. He continues to hold the career punting average record for his college alma mater, Northwestern (41.8), where he also holds the single-season average (45.6). During his 1994–97 tenure with the NFL's Dolphins, he established the career punting average record (44.2) for the franchise that stood until

Brandon Fields Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) is a former American football punter who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He ...

joined the team in 2007 and surpassed Kidd in 2010. In 1996, Kidd led the NFL with a 46.3 punting average.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
1961 births Living people Players of American football from Springfield, Illinois People from Findlay, Ohio American football punters Northwestern Wildcats football players Buffalo Bills players San Diego Chargers players Miami Dolphins players Detroit Lions players New York Jets players Findlay High School alumni {{Amfoot-punter-stub