Friendly Reminder: Harrison But(tkic)ker was a STEAL! – While browsing the worldwide web yesterday I came upon an interesting article that was recently published by Adam Teicher, entitled “Are Long Field Goals the Next Frontier for Chiefs’ Harrison Butker?” This has prompted me to remind myself… and hopefully anyone who should by chance wander upon this piece… just how much of an absolute gold mine, at least for a kicker, Mr. “Butt Kicker” has turned out to be.
A Little Chiefs Kicking Background
The Chiefs have carried more than 20 placekickers on their roster over the course of their 60-year history spanning the team’s time in both the American Football League and National Football League.
Chiefs kickers have included legends such as Jan Stenerud, Nick Lowery and Morten Andersen (though his time with the Chiefs was brief: 2002-2003); as well as some (MANY!) lesser-knowns (Michael Husted, Dave Rayner, Lin Elliott, Mike Mercer, Connor Barth, Justin Medlock, James Hamrick – you get the idea).
Most were not wildly accomplished during their Chiefs’ stints. Stenerud easily ranks at the top; along with being a member of the Super Bowl IV Championship team, he was selected for 3 Pro Bowls, 3 First-Team All-Pro, 2 Second-Team All-Pro, 2 AFL All-Star selections, 2 First-Team All-AFL, 1 Second-Team All-AFL, NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame (Class of 1991), and his #3 Chiefs jersey retired. Nick Lowery also impressed with 3 Pro-Bowl selections, 2 First-Team All-Pro, and induction into the Chiefs Hall of Fame. Most other kickers in Chiefs history have been… serviceable.
A Cairo Dalliance
The man who kicked Chiefs field goals, PATs and kickoffs before Butker was, of course, Cairo Santos, 2014-to-2017. He was signed by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent on May 19, 2014, after having spent his college years kicking for Tulane. During his time as a Chief, Santos made 85.6% of field goal attempts (95 of 111 in 54 games, including playoffs), as well as 96.3% of PAT attempts (131 of 136). Plus, along with the pure stats, he came up big in many clutch moments throughout the 2014-to-2016 seasons. However, his Chiefs career quickly came to an end after he suffered a groin injury before the start of the 2017 regular season. He recovered enough to play when the season began, but aggravated his injury in week 3 against the Chargers. He was placed on injured reserve on September 26, 2017, and was waived 4 days later. This development was clearly difficult and concerning for many in Chiefs Kingdom — myself included — but it also paved the way for the rise of the man who we lovingly call “Butt Kicker.”
The “Butt Kicker”
Harrison Butker was born in Decatur, GA, on July 14 (which also happens to be Bastille Day — basically the French version of Independence Day, for any of you world history buffs — in 1995. While attending high school in Atlanta, he played football, soccer and basketball. He also broke a school record with a 53-yard field goal. He went on to play his college ball at Georgia Tech from 2013-to-2016, where he converted on only 71.7% of field goal attempts, 43-of-60, but also completed 99% of his PAT attempts, 208-of-210. Butker’s lackluster field goal conversion rate may have hurt his draft status, as he was selected in the 7th round, 233rd pick overall, of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. However, the real meat of this story is going to be how he became a Chief and what he has done in the time since that fateful acquisition.
Though the Panthers quickly signed Butker to a 4-year deal, they would eventually decide to keep veteran kicker Graham Gano on the active roster and they waived Butker on September 17, 2017, then then signed him to the practice squad the following day. Just over a week later, September 26, the Chiefs signed him off of the Panthers practice squad and he immediately made himself a valuable member on special teams. Butker made a game-winning field goal in his debut against Washington and would follow up this clutch performance with a 5-for-5 performance the following week against the Houston Texans.
Butker was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week and AFC Special Teams Player of the Month during the 2017 campaign. He was also named as an alternate for the 2018 Pro Bowl, having converted on 90.5% of field goal attempts, 38-of-42, regular season, and 100% of PATs going 28-for-28). Butker was also 4-of-5 from 50+ yards, with a long of 53. Finally, he set himself apart during his rookie year by breaking the NFL record for most field goals in a month by a rookie kicker, and by becoming the 1st kicker in NFL history to make at least 5 field goals in multiple games of his rookie season.
The youngster who made barely over 70% of his college field goals and who had ended up on the Carolina practice squad was rapidly transforming himself into a diamond in the rough, but Butker wasn’t about to stop after his rookie campaign. He continued to convert his field goal attempts at a high rate, and while his PAT conversion rate was less than stellar, this seems like a relatively forgivable, and minor, smudge on the record, given that he’s been kicking PATs for a team that scored 69 touchdowns in the 2018 regular season. Butker made 6 PATs in week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers alone, and then 48 more in 2019. Even a great kicker will have a few hiccups when given that many attempts.
The 2019 season proved to be another banner year for Butker, as he again was named as both AFC Special Teams Player of the Week and AFC Special Teams Player of the month, following more clutch, game-winning and game-tying kicks in big time moments. He also led the league with 34 made field goals, and in Super Bowl LIV he connected on all 4 PAT attempts and his only field goal attempt of 31 yards. In just 3 years as a pro, he has already accomplished a lot. Here are records currently held by the soon-to-be 25-year-old Harrison Butker.
Butker’s First NFL Record
- Most field goals made by a rookie: 38
Chiefs Franchise Records by Butker
- Most field goals made, season: 38, 2017
- Most field goals attempted by a rookie: 42
- Most field goals made in first two seasons: 62
- Most points by a rookie: 142
- Most points by a kicker, season: 142, 2017
- Most points by a player in their first two seasons: 279
- Highest field goal percentage by a rookie (min. 20 attempts): 90.5
- Most games, 2+ field goals made, season (tied with Nick Lowery, Cairo Santos, and Jan Stenerud): 10, 2017
- Most games, 3+ field goals made, season: 8, 2017
- Most games, 4+ field goals made, season: 4, 2017
- Most games, 5+ field goals made, season: 3, 2017
- Career field goal percentage (min 100 attempts): 89.7%
Butker’s 89.7% career field goal percentage is also good for 2nd in NFL history, and as Adam Teicher discussed in further detail, the kicker may at some point look at going the distance while simultaneously maintaining high completion percentages.
“It took many tries and a strong wind at his back, but Harrison Butker made a 77-yard field goal this spring while working out at a Kansas City-area park. It was the longest successful kick of Butker’s career, practice or otherwise, surpassing the 72-yarder he made in warm-ups before the Kansas City Chiefs’ game last November in the altitude of Mexico City…. Butker has only two of the Chiefs’ 15 longest field goals, however, both coming last season. He made a 56-yarder last December against the Bears in Chicago and a 54-yarder on a windy November day at home against the Minnesota Vikings. But his 77-yard try, even under favorable conditions, makes it natural to wonder whether the next frontier for Butker is longer kicks, maybe even threatening the NFL record for longest field goal of 64 yards, set by Denver’s Matt Prater in 2013.”
Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer
Whether kicking for length, accuracy, or both, the good news for Chiefs Kingdom is that it appears Butker will be kicking as a Chief for the foreseeable future, as he signed a 5-year contract extension in June 2019. So, Chiefs fans, on game day when your getting excited to see Mahomes sling a ridiculous throw to one of his many weapons in the end zone, try to keep that attention focused and be grateful as our “Butt Kicker” trots out onto the field to drill the PAT and then boom the ensuing kickoff through the back of the endzone! We in Chiefs Kingdom have something special in this kid!
James S. McGregor — ArrowheadOne
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