Kicker Angst

A Brief History of the Vikings (and their fans) struggles with Kickers

Sunday night, Vikings Kicker Will Reichard missed his first two field goals of the season. It was revealed after the game that he had been dealing with an injury that had occurred early in the week and worsened during the game. Before those misses Reichard had been a perfect 14 of 14 on field goals and 20 of 20 on extra points through the first seven games of the season.  

The more superstitious Vikings fans among us have developed a certain angst and anxiety about our kickers.  To us, last night’s misses were somewhat predictable because Reichard’s perfection had made headlines in recent weeks. In our minds, just mentioning the words “perfect” and “kicker” in the same sentence is bad karma. 

It’s similar to talking to a pitcher when they’re throwing a no hitter, or reminding a bowler of their perfect score right before they pick up their ball for the 10th frame. Even the lesser superstitious fans know that taunting the sports Gods rarely works out in Minnesota’s favor.

So where does this Minnesota “Kicker Angst” come from?

In response to this question, it’s fair to assume that most Vikings fans would immediately conjure up images of Gary Anderson lining up for the field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship game.  And then, in their head, they’d hear the infamous words of legendary broadcaster Pat Summerall.  Just before the ball was snapped, Summerall said,

“And Anderson hasn’t missed in two years!”  

Summerall was of course referring to Anderson’s field goal streak which had dated back to the previous season.  That particular season he was a perfect 35 of 35 on field goals, and 59 of 59 on extra points….up until that point anyway.  As Vikings fans woefully remember, Anderson’s attempt, which most likely would have put the game out of reach for the Atlanta Falcons, went wide left.  The Falcons went on to the Super Bowl, and the Viking’s season ended in heartbreak.  

Anderson’s miss was arguably the biggest missed field goal in Vikings history.  But it was not the only one. 

After initially moving on from Anderson in 2002, the Vikings signed veteran kicker Doug Brien.  In the 2002 pre-season, Brien missed 4 of 5 field goals.  Then on September 15, 2002, the Vikings were hosting the Buffalo Bills at the Metrodome.  In that game, Brien, missed 2 extra points and a field goal during regulation.  Despite those misses the Vikings scored with 30 seconds left in the game to take a 3-point lead.  The Bills then quickly drove down the field, and kicked a field goal with time expiring to tie the game at 39.  In overtime, the Bills won on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe to Peerless Price.  Following the game, Vikings head coach Mike Tice was so frustrated he called into a radio post-game show on his way home to complain about Brien’s missed kicks.  That week the Vikings brought Gary Anderson back to kick field goals and extra points and Doug Brien was relegated to kickoffs.  Brien was released in October.

After Gary Anderson, the Vikings kicker job was seemingly a revolving door.  Any of these names ring a bell? 

Aaron Elling?  Brett Conway? Morten Anderson? Jose Cortez? Paul Edinger?

Eventually Ryan Longwell was signed and he spent 6 seasons kicking with the Vikings. During the 2009 NFC championship game in New Orleans, that Minnesota “Kicker Angst” started to surfaced again.  The Vikings were driving down the field in the final minute of the game trying to position themselves for a potential game winning field goal. I can personally attest that the stress and tension was off the charts thinking about another field goal that could either put us in the Super Bowl or crush our souls again. Unfortunately, after a “12 men in the huddle” penalty and a Brett Favre interception, that stress quickly dissipated and changed to sadness and despair.  The Vikings never saw the ball again and the Saints went on to win in overtime.

In 2012, the Vikings drafted Blair Walsh.  In his first season he was a perfect 36 for 36 on extra points and 35 of 38 on field goals.  He was so consistent his first few seasons that in the summer of 2015 he was given a 4-year extension.  Later that season, the Vikings played their first playoff game in 3 years, a wildcard game against the Seattle Seahawks.  Walsh missed a potential game winning FG from 27 yards with 26 seconds left and the Seahawks went on to win.  The following year he struggled with both field goals and extra points and was released after a week 10 loss to the Redskins.

After moving on from Walsh, the Vikings drafted kicker, Daniel Carlson in 2018.  Carlson was selected in the 5th round.  At that time, it was not very common to draft a kicker that high.  According to sportswriter Michael Salfino, “a fifth-round pick for a kicker was more like a first-rounder for any other position.” 

Carlson lasted 2 games.  He was released after missing 3 FGs in a week 2 game with the packers that ended in a tie and left then head coach Mike Zimmer, extremely frustrated during the post-game press conferences. 

Speaking of 5th round draft picks and kickers, the Vikings also used a 5th round pick on punter Jeff Locke in 2013 at a time when on 9 punters had ever been drafted ever.  They also traded a 5th round pick to Baltimore for Punter/Kicker Kaare Vedvik in 2019.  Vedvik was brought in to challenge then Kicker Dan Bailey.  Vedvik was released 3 weeks later without ever having played a game.     

So Gary Anderson’s miss had to be the beginning of the Minnesota “Kicker Angst”, right?  

As with everything, a trip down memory lane will teach us otherwise. 

Have you ever heard the name Mike Mercer?

Mercer was the Vikings first kicker in Vikings franchise history.  He was originally from Iowa and was drafted by the out of Arizona State.  During the Vikings inaugural 1961 season.  Mercer was 9 for 21 (42.9%) on field goals that season including a 13-7 loss to the Lions where Mercer missed 2 field goals.  It’s important to remember that back then kickers utilized the straight on, toe style kicking, rather than the more accurate soccer style that became popular later in the 60s.  In fact, the Vikings all-time leading point scorer, kicker Fred Cox, was also a toe style kicker with a career field goal percentage of 62%.  Those numbers are great for that time period, but they wouldn’t get you a job in today’s NFL.

In the Vikings next season, Mercer missed 5 field goals in the pre-season, including a potential game tying kick (it was tipped) during an exhibition vs the Cardinals.  Then he went on to go 0 for 5 in field goal attempts during the first 4 games of the regular season.  The Vikings ended up releasing Mercer before the 5th game.  Because Fred Cox had taken a teaching job, linebacker Jim Christopherson took over the field goal duties the rest of the season going 11 for 21 (52.4%).

Were mercer’s misses as traumatic to Vikings fans as Gary Anderson’s miss?  No.  But it goes to show you that the Vikings’ struggles at the kicker position didn’t start with Anderson and have been happening since the very beginning.  Sure, bad things happen to every team.  But for some teams, it seems to happen more than others.  I’d even argue, that unless you were a Buffalo Bills fan in 1991 (Scott Norwood), there probably isn’t any other fanbase that can match their “Kicker Angst” to ours.  And the more seasons a Vikings fan has witnessed and lived through, the more “Kicker Angst” they probably have.  A name like Teddy Garcia might not mean much to a younger Vikings fan, but to a more experienced fan, memories of Garcia’s three games and 4 missed field goals for the Vikings in 1989 might evoke a smirk and an uncomfortable chuckle.

Sources

Football Reference

Minneapolis Tribune, October 9, 1962. 

https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-tribune/158428494/