FanNation - The Republic of Sport

thehemogoblin- Gone said 05/26, 06:42 PM
George Blanda.

Lou Groza.

Jan Stenerud.

The three men who made the Pro Football Hall of Fame as kickers.

Blanda held the all-time point record, the games played record, and had an MVP as an AFL QB.

Groza was a 6-time all-NFL tackle, and has a rule named after him prohibiting the use of aids in kicking.

Stenerud was a pioneer of soccer-style kicking, and had seasons of infallible accuracy, hitting 70% of his field goals in the AFL when the league average was 50%, and in 1981 where he went 35 of 36.

However, Jason Elam doesn't have the credentials for the Hall of Fame.

He's only made three Pro Bowls:

Blanda has four
Groza has nine
Stenerud has six

He's never lead the league in field goal percentage:

Blanda did 3x
Groza did 5x
Stenerud did 4x

He's only led in field goals made one time

Blanda didn't ever
Groza did 6x
Stenerud did 3x

Elam only led extra points made one time

Blanda did 8x
Groza did 3x
Stenerud didn't ever

As for those longest kicks, Steve Christie and Tom Dempsey aren't in the Hall.

And no, Jason Elam's not the #1 all-time extra point kicker in accuracy with players who have at least five years of NFL service (which qualifies for NFL records), he's #6.

thehemogoblin- Gone said 05/27, 02:16 AM
Well, I'm sure that if Jan Stenerud had the advantage of the thin air of Mile High Stadium, his long distance kicking numbers would be a lot more attractive than they are now

Stenerud led the league two more times in made field goals, and you attempt to discredit that, but then you list off his extra points, and then you list off his Super Bowl rings

You may be comparing apples to apples, but Stenerud played in an era where trees had different soil. Compared to his contemporaries (players that were playing in the 60's or 70's for Stenerud), only Blanda and Nick Lowery have him beat for points. Meanwhile, Elam's relation to his contemporaries (players in the 1990s and 2000+) is 5th, behind Morten Andersen, Gary Anderson, Matt Stover and John Carney

The middle year of Stenerud's career, 1976, the field goal rate was a cool 59.5%, where Stenerud's career average is 10.4% higher than that. 2000, the middle year of Elam's career, the success rate was 79.7%, and his career average is 80.6%, a .9% increase

Also, there was a period where Jason Elam wasn't even doing kickoffs. A major handicap to a team with a strict roster size, having to carry another specialist solely to do kickoffs

thehemogoblin- Gone said 05/28, 12:15 AM
In perspective, Ruth was still a better home run hitter, wasn't he? He hit more in an era where people hit less. Same thing applies here.

Elam's career percentage is right at the league average for his time. Only a 1 percent difference, whereas Stenerud's difference is a whopping 10.4 percent. There's no way you can deny that. No way. Stenerud dominated his era. Elam was just a player who had good talent that came to the NFL in an era where kicking was better.

You've also got to look at the teams that Elam played on. Denver's been a relative powerhouse (*sigh*) since Elam came into the league, he's only had two coaches, Wade Phillips and Mike Shanananananahan, the latter leading Denver to a .625 winning percentage and ranking in the top 10 in points 9 times in his 13 seasons in the Mile High City.

It's all about the team and the era for Elam. Look at how much more RELATIVE success that Stenerud had in his time than Elam in his, and look at how high scoring Shanahan's teams have been in Denver.

Also, Jan Stenerud was the first NFL player to use the soccer-style kicking method, a method that all 32 placekickers in the NFL use at this time, INCLUDING Jason Elam.