Bakken c. 2015
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| No. 25 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Kicker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1940-11-02) November 2, 1940 (age 83) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Madison West | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1962 / Round: 7 / Pick: 88 | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||||||
James LeRoy Bakken (born November 2, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals, playing occasionally as a punter as well. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL 1960s and 1970s All-Decade Team. Bakken is one of 29 individuals to be named to two All-Decade teams.[1]
Before his NFL career, Bakken played football at Madison West High SchoolinMadison, Wisconsin. He went on to play three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he played on the 1960 Rose Bowl team as a sophomore and led the Big Ten in punting average in 1960 and 1961. He was named to the Madison (Wisconsin) Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was later inducted into the UW Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame.[2]
Bakken was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL draft.[3] He did not make the team and was instead picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played his entire NFL career. He played 17 seasons, scoring a total of 1,380 points while never missing a game between 1963 and 1978. He cracked the 100-point threshold in a season three times (1964, 1967, and 1973) and was selected to kick in the Pro Bowl four times. For a time, he was president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).[4]
Bakken was the first NFL kicker to attempt nine field goals and successfully convert seven in a Week 2 28–14 win over the Pittsburgh SteelersatPitt Stadium on September 24, 1967. That single-game field goal record was broke by Rob Bironas with eight in a game in 2007.[5]
Bakken was named by the voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the Professional Football 1960s All Decade Team, which included both NFL and American Football League players. The voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame also selected Bakken to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.
In December 2010, the annual trophy for the Big Ten's best kicker, the "Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year" award, was co-named in his honor.[6]
Career high/best bolded
| Regular season statistics | ||||||||||||||||
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| Season | Team (record) | G | FGM | FGA | % | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | LNG | BLK | XPM | XPA | % | PTS |
| 1962 | STL (4–9–1) | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1963 | STL (9–5) | 14 | 11 | 21 | 52.4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 45 | 0 | 44 | 44 | 100.0 | 77 |
| 1964 | STL (9–3–2) | 14 | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 51 | 0 | 40 | 40 | 100.0 | 115 |
| 1965 | STL (5–9) | 14 | 21 | 31 | 67.7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 45 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 100.0 | 96 |
| 1966 | STL (8–5–1) | 14 | 23 | 40 | 57.5 | 8–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–12 | 0–4 | 47 | 0 | 27 | 28 | 96.4 | 96 |
| 1967 | STL (6–7–1) | 14 | 27 | 39 | 69.2 | 8–8 | 8–9 | 8–11 | 3–10 | 0–1 | 47 | 0 | 36 | 36 | 100.0 | 117 |
| 1968 | STL (9–4–1) | 14 | 15 | 24 | 62.5 | 2–2 | 7–7 | 3–6 | 3–8 | 0–1 | 47 | 0 | 40 | 40 | 100.0 | 85 |
| 1969 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 12 | 24 | 50.0 | 2–2 | 4–8 | 3–4 | 3–7 | 0–3 | 46 | 0 | 38 | 40 | 95.0 | 74 |
| 1970 | STL (8–5–1) | 14 | 20 | 32 | 62.5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 7–7 | 6–11 | 0–4 | 49 | 0 | 37 | 38 | 97.4 | 97 |
| 1971 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 21 | 32 | 65.6 | 5–5 | 8–13 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 0–0 | 45 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 100.0 | 87 |
| 1972 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 14 | 22 | 63.6 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–3 | 6–9 | 0–0 | 49 | 0 | 19 | 21 | 90.5 | 61 |
| 1973 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 23 | 32 | 71.9 | 4–4 | 6–7 | 10–12 | 3–8 | 0–1 | 46 | 0 | 31 | 31 | 100.0 | 100 |
| 1974 | STL (10–4) | 14 | 13 | 22 | 59.1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 5–9 | 6–10 | 0–0 | 47 | 0 | 30 | 36 | 83.3 | 69 |
| 1975 | STL (11–3) | 14 | 19 | 24 | 79.2 | 0–0 | 10–11 | 5–7 | 4–6 | 0–0 | 48 | 0 | 40 | 41 | 97.6 | 97 |
| 1976 | STL (10–4) | 14 | 20 | 27 | 74.1 | 0–0 | 10–11 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 0–0 | 43 | 0 | 33 | 35 | 94.3 | 93 |
| 1977 | STL (7–7) | 14 | 7 | 16 | 43.8 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–5 | 2–8 | 0–1 | 49 | 0 | 35 | 36 | 97.2 | 56 |
| 1978 | STL (6–10) | 16 | 11 | 22 | 50.0 | 0–0 | 4–5 | 4–7 | 3–10 | 0–0 | 45 | 0 | 27 | 30 | 90.0 | 60 |
| Career (17 seasons) | 234 | 282 | 447 | 63.1 | 37–38 | 73–95 | 65–93 | 50–115 | 0–15 | 51 | 0 | 534 | 553 | 96.6 | 1380 | |
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Los Angeles Rams 1962 NFL draft selections
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