Greg Zuerlein (American football)

Zuerlein was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the sixth-round (171st overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft.[5] He was the first non-Bowl Championship Series kicker to be drafted since Stephen Gostkowski in 2006, and the first below the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision since Paul Ernster in 2005. The Rams cut their primary kicker Josh Brown, who was in the final year of his $14.5 million five-year deal, the same weekend they drafted Zuerlein.[4][6]

Zuerlein during Rams training camp in 2012

Zuerlein made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Detroit Lions and converted two extra point attempts and three field goal attempts in the 27–23 loss.[7] In Week 3, against the Chicago Bears, he made a 56-yard field goal, the longest at Soldier Field.[8] In Week 4, he hit a 60-yard field goal against the Seattle Seahawks, which beat the franchise-record of 58 yards, set by Zuerlein earlier in the same game.[9] The kick broke Jeff Wilkins' 14-year record.[10] He became the first player in NFL history to make a 60-yard field goal and a 50-plus yarder in the same game.[11] He was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort against the Seahawks.[12] In Week 6, Zuerlein missed three field goals wide left, the first two from 37 and 52 yards, and the final one at 66 yards to tie the game against the Miami Dolphins.[13] In Week 13, Zuerlein made a 54-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Rams a 16–13 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at the Edward Jones Dome. It was the second longest successful field goal in NFL overtime history, three yards short of the NFL overtime record, which is held by Sebastian Janikowski[14] He earned another NFC Special Teams player of the Week award for his game against the 49ers.[15] In 2012, he attempted 13 field goals of 50 yards or longer, converting seven. Overall, in his rookie season, he converted all 26 extra point attempts and 23 of 31 field goal attempts.[16]

Zuerlein started the 2013 season off converting all four field goal attempts and one extra point attempt in the 27–24 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.[17] The 13 points he scored in the season opener was his highest scoring in one game on the season. Overall, he was a reliable kicker when called upon, converting all 34 extra point attempts and 26 of 28 field goal attempts in the 2013 season as the Rams finished with a 7–9 record.[18][19]

In Week 2, Zuerlein converted four field goal attempts and one extra point to help provide the difference in the 19–17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[20] In Week 11, against the Denver Broncos, he converted all five field goal attempts and one extra point in the 22–7 victory.[21] He earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time in his career.[22] Overall, he finished the 2014 season converting 34 of 35 extra points and 24 of 30 field goal attempts.[23]

In the 2015 season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Zuerlein converted all four extra point attempts and both field goal attempts in the 34—31 overtime victory.[24] In Week 5, against the Green Bay Packers, he converted one of four field goal attempts in the 24–10 loss, the first time since his rookie season that he missed three in a single game.[25] In Week 9, against the Minnesota Vikings, he converted four of five field goal attempts for a season-high 12 points scored in the 21–18 loss.[26] Zuerlein missed two games due to a groin injury.[27] Overall, he finished the 2015 season with 26 of 28 extra points converted and 20 of 30 field goals converted.[28]

The Rams made the decision to move from St. Louis to Los Angeles prior to the 2016 season.[29] On April 15, 2016, Zuerlein signed a one-year contract to return to the Los Angeles Rams.[30] After the Rams were shut out against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, Zuerlein provided all the scoring in the 9–3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2.[31][32] In Week 5, against the Buffalo Bills, he converted all four field goal attempts and one extra point in the 30–19 loss.[33] Overall, he finished the 2016 season converting all 23 extra point attempts and 19 of 22 field goal attempts.[34] The Rams' offense did not provide a lot of opportunities for Zuerlein compared to the past and he scored a career-low 80 points on the 4–12 season.[35] Head coach Jeff Fisher was fired before the season ended.[36]

Before the 2017 season, Sean McVay was hired as the new coach of the Los Angeles Rams.[37] On March 14, 2017, Zuerlein signed a three-year contract extension with the Rams.[38]

On September 10, 2017, in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Zuerlein converted three field goals and five extra points in a 46–9 home victory.[39] He tied with Oakland Raiders' kicker Giorgio Tavecchio for the most points scored by a kicker in Week 1 with 14.[40] On October 1, 2017, Zuerlein broke the Rams record for the most field goals in a game going 7 for 7 (surpassing Jeff Wilkins in 2006) against the Dallas Cowboys in the Rams 35–30 upset win, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career.[41] On November 2, 2017, Zuerlein received the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month award for his strong performances in October.[42] In Week 10, Zuerlein converted all four field goals, including a 50-yarder in a 33–7 win over the Houston Texans, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time in the 2017 season.[43] On December 20, 2017, Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve due to a back injury.[44] This news came a day after it was announced the Zuerlein was named to his first Pro Bowl.[45] In addition, he earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November.[46] He was later named as a First Team All-Pro.[47] He finished the season leading the league in scoring with 158 points and 11.3 points per game.[48]

In the 2018 season opener, Zuerlein converted all three extra point attempts and converted four of five field goal attempts including a 55-yarder in a 33–13 win over the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football, earning him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the sixth time in his career.[49] He suffered a groin injury in pregame warmups before the Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals.[50] he returned to action in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers converting four extra point attempts and three field goal attempts in the 39–10 victory.[51] In Week 11, against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, he converted six of seven extra point attempts and three field goal attempts in the historic 54–51 victory.[52] In the regular season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, he converted all six extra point attempts and both field goal attempts in the 48–32 victory.[53] Overall, he finished the 2018 season converting 35 of 36 extra point attempts and 27 of 31 field goal attempts.[54] The Rams won the NFC West and earned the #2-seed in the NFC Playoffs.[55]

In the Divisional Round against the Dallas Cowboys, he converted three extra-point attempts and three of four field-goal attempts in the 30–22 victory.[56] In the 2019 NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints, Zuerlein was instrumental in the Rams' overtime win, hitting all four of his field-goal attempts.[57] This included a 48-yard field goal near the end of regulation to send the game into overtime, and then a 57-yard field goal to win the game in sudden death overtime, sending his team to the Super Bowl LIII. The winning kick tied the record for the longest successful field goal in NFL overtime history.[58] In Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots, Zuerlein made a 53-yard field goal late in the third quarter to score the first Rams’ points and tie the game at 3–3. With 8 seconds left in the game and his team down 13–3, he missed a 48-yard field goal that would’ve set up his team for a desperation attempt to tie or win the game with an ensuing onside kick recovery and a Hail Mary pass. The Rams lost 3–13.[59]

On March 30, 2020, the Dallas Cowboys signed Zuerlein to a three-year, $7.5 million contract.[60]