PACKERS SIGN RYAN LONGWELL, MOST ACCURATE KICKER IN NFL HISTORY, TO MULTI-YEAR PACT; LED NFC IN SCORING IN 2000 WITH CAREER-HIGH 131 POINTS

posted 02/20/01

Ryan Longwell

The Green Bay Packers have signed Ryan Longwell, the most accurate placekicker in National Football League history, to a multi-year contract, Andrew Brandt, director of player finance, announced today.

The new document will keep the four-year professional in a Packers uniform "through the prime of his playing career," Brandt said.

Contractual terms, in keeping with longstanding Packers policy, were not announced.

Longwell's re-signing comes on the heels of his most productive season to date, one which saw him officially become the most accurate field goal kicker in the annals of pro football. A model of consistency in reaching the minimum 100 field goals made required to qualify, he closed out the year with 111 completions in 131 career attempts, an 84.73 percentage.

Overall, the 26-year-old University of California alumnus led the National Football Conference in scoring with a career-high 131 points - becoming the first Green Bay specialist to do so since Chester Marcol in 1974, making 33 of 38 field goal attempts and all of the 32 extra points he attempted.

The latter performance extended his consecutive-PAT streak to 70, a skein which dates back to the opening game of the 1999 season.

Longwell's 131 points broke the team's single-season record for most points, no touchdowns, of 128, a mark shared by Chester Marcol (1972), Chris Jacke (1993) and himself (1998), and also enabled him to become the first player in club history to post four 100-point seasons (1997-2000), moving him ahead of Paul Hornung and Jacke, who posted three such years apiece.

He further punctuated his 2000 season by making the first three game-winning field goals of his career (at any level) - against Philadelphia (9/17), against San Francisco (10/15) and against Tampa Bay (12-24) - and also delivered a career-long 52-yarder at Tampa (11/12).

In last season's process, he became the first kicker in pro football history to average over 80 percent (or better) in field goal efficiency in his first four NFL seasons - 80.0 in 1997 (24 of 30); 87.9 in 1998 (29 of 33); 83.3 in 1999 (25 of 30); and 86.8 in 2000 (33 of 38).

Longwell, who now holds seven team records and is tied for two others, was particularly accurate inside the 40-yard line in 2000, making 17 of his 18 attempts (94.4 percent), with his only miss having been blocked.

The sunny Bend, Ore., native, both a perfectionist and a tireless worker, now has scored at least one point in a team-record 64 consecutive games (every game of his career), and ranks second in the NFL in points scored (492) since coming into the league - behind only the Minnesota Vikings' Gary Anderson (503).

Longwell also finished the 2000 season as the sixth-ranking scorer in Packers history, having passed Clarke Hinkle (379), Ted Fritsch (380), Sterling Sharpe (396) and Fred Cone (455) over the course of the year.

Along the way, he scored a career-high 17 points in the 29-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on September 24, making all 5 of his field goal attempts to tie the team's single-game record, and both of his extra point tries.

Perhaps the most remarkable statistic of his four-year career is his astonishing 86.57 field goal percentage in Lambeau Field (58 of 67) during his four seasons in Green and Gold, considering the challenging weather and wind conditions he frequently has encountered on game day.

The principal in one of the most engaging success stories in the Packers' long and colorful history, Longwell made the most of a preseason opportunity in 1997 to capture the team's placekicking assignment and become the club's resident scoring leader.

Claimed as a "last-minute" addition on July 10, 1997, after being waived by the San Francisco 49ers, he stepped in for an injured Brett Conway in a preseason game at Oakland and proceeded to connect on all three of his field goal attempts that evening and, when Conway's injury subsequently did not respond to treatment, went on to lead the team in scoring during the regular season with 120 points, second-highest rookie total in club annals.

And it was only the beginning.