Memphis can boast 2 Super Bowl kickers
MEMPHIS – You know how this Super Bowl will end right?
With former University of Memphis kicker Stephen Gostkowski nailing a
50-yarder, like the one he once kicked against Murray State.
Or with former Memphis kicker Jake Elliott banging in a 54-yarder, like the one he hit in overtime against BYU.
Or with Gostkowski connecting from 53 yards, like he did against Marshall.
Or with Elliott blasting one from 56, like he did against South Florida.
But however it ends, a kicker from the University of Memphis will win an NFL championship.
“Two Super Bowl kickers from Memphis,” said Joe Allison, another Memphis kicker of some repute. “That’s kind of a neat thing.”
The starting quarterbacks are from Michigan and Arizona. The starting running backs are from Pittsburgh and Boise State. The head coaches are from Wesleyan and Syracuse.
The kickers are from Memphis and Memphis. And if that’s not enough Memphis for you, Justin Timberlake will be kicking it during the halftime show.
Gostkowski (Memphis class of
2006) got things started by scoring six points (a 31-yard field goal and three extra points) as New England defeated Jacksonville in the AFC Championship Game 24-20.
Then Elliott (Memphis class of
2017) celebrated his birthday by scoring eight points (a 38-yard field goal and five extra points) as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game 38-7.
“Best. Birthday. Ever.” Elliott tweeted.
Now we have the 33-year-old, fourtime Pro Bowl kicker who set every kicking record at Memphis from 2002 to 2005, versus the 23-year-old rookie sensation who broke all of Gostkowski’s records at Memphis from 2013 to
2016.
Most points in Memphis history: Elliott 445, Gostkowski 369.
Most field goals in Memphis history: Elliott 81, Gostkowski 70.
Most extra points in Memphis history: Elliott 202, Gostkowski 159.
Most Super Bowl rings won by a Memphis kicker: Ahh, that’s where the old man still has the edge. Gostkowski
2, Elliott 0.
Memphis has a history of accomplished kickers, a history that extends well beyond the two men who will be teeing it up in Minnesota in two weeks. Allison, now a high school coach in Florida, won the Lou Groza Award as the country’s best kicker, something Gostkowski or Elliott never did. And Memphis has had at least seven other kickers — Ted Lane, Ryan White, Matt Reagan, Luis Tejeda, Don Glosson, John Butler and Bobby Williams — selected for an end-of-the-season all-conference team.
“There is a real camaraderie between us,” Allison said. “As you know, kickers are a special breed.”
Maybe that’s another reason Memphis seems to be better at producing kickers than, say, Alabama. Because it’s not as simple as signing the next fivestar recruit.
Gostkowski came to Memphis on a partial baseball scholarship. He told himself he’d give up football if he didn’t get a scholarship within a year. His first game, he bounced a 50-yarder off the crossbar and through. He got his scholarship not long after that.
Elliott was a tennis player before he became a kicker. He didn’t start kicking until his junior year of high school. His only other scholarship offer was from North Dakota, which he visited in January, when it was 40 below.
So there is an element of serendipity to this kicking matchup, but also an element of unflinching resolve. Because if there’s one thing that unites Gostkowski and Elliott in addition to their alma mater — and the mentor/mentee relationship that flowed from that — it’s their ability to shrug off pressures that many would find debilitating.
The Patriots didn’t just spend a fourth-round pick on Gostkowski. They drafted him to replace Adam Vinatieri, one of the greatest kickers of all time.
As for Elliott, he was drafted in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Bengals, then summarily cut in favor of Randy Bullock.
Elliott responded by catching on with the Eagles, kicking a 61-yarder to beat the New York Giants, and setting an Eagles season record with five field goals of 50-plus yards.
Indeed, Elliott had one more 50-yarder than Gostkowski this season. Will Gostkowski draw even at the Super Bowl? It’s going to be a blast to find out.
Maybe Gostkowski will drill one from 55 yards as time expires. Or maybe Elliott will top his predecessor again.
A kicker from Memphis vs. a kicker from Memphis. It’s less about what’s in our water than what’s in their veins.