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Placekicker
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==Kicking style== {{multiple image | align = right | total_width = 320 | image1 = Tommy James and Lou Groza 1950.jpg | alt1 = A black and white image of a straight-on American Football placekicker practicing a field goal with a holder | caption1 = An example of a "straight on" style kick β [[Cleveland Browns]] kicker [[Lou Groza]] practices alongside [[Tommy James (American football)|Tommy James]] as holder | image2 = Brendan Gibbons and Drew Dileo.jpg | alt2 = An image of a modern American Football placekicker in a navy blue shirt and yellow pants, wearing a navy helmet with yellow stripe | caption2 = An example of a "soccer style" kick β [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan Wolverines]] kicker Brendan Gibbons with [[Drew Dileo]] as holder }} Placekickers today are predominantly "[[football (soccer)|soccer]]-style" kickers, approaching the ball from several steps to the left of it [for a right-footed kicker, or vice versa] and several steps behind, striking the ball with the instep of the foot; all current National Football League kickers use this style. This method of kicking was introduced in 1957 by [[Fred Bednarski]]<ref name=Sherrington>{{cite web|last1=Sherrington|first1=Kevin|title=Often overlooked, Texas' Bednarski is the true pioneer of soccer-style kick|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/columnists/kevin-sherrington/20121208-sherrington-often-overlooked-texas-bednarski-is-the-true-pioneer-of-soccer-style-kick.ece|publisher=[[The Dallas Morning News]]|access-date=December 30, 2014|date=December 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name=WTSideways>{{cite web|author=The Washington Times|title=Going sideways into history|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/17/going-sideways-into-history/?page=all|publisher=[[The Washington Times]]|access-date=January 3, 2015}}</ref> and popularized in the 1960s by kickers like [[Pete Gogolak]] and his younger brother [[Charlie Gogolak|Charlie]], the first placekicker to be drafted in the first round.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://footballfoundation.org/roster.aspx?rp_id=202 |title=Charlie and Pete Gogolak |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2015 |website=Football Foundation |access-date=January 15, 2019 }}</ref> Previously, most placekickers used a "straight on" style, which required the use of a special shoe that is extremely rigid and has a flattened and slightly upturned toe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wizardkicking.com/images/ACF2C08.jpg |title=Shoes |format=JPG |website=www.wizardkicking.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705072642/http://www.wizardkicking.com/images/ACF2C08.jpg |archive-date=July 5, 2007}}</ref> In the straight on style, also known as "[[toe punt|straight-toe]]" style, the kicker approaches the ball from directly behind, rather than from the side, and strikes the ball with the toe. The last full-time straight on placekicker in the NFL was [[Mark Moseley]] who retired from the [[Cleveland Browns]] after the 1986 season, and the last straight-on kicker drafted into the NFL was [[Manny Matsakis]] from Capital University by the [[Philadelphia Eagles]] in 1984, who went on to have a successful college and coaching career. The [[Minnesota Vikings]] were the last NFL team to begin employing a soccer-style kicker, bringing in [[Benny Ricardo]] in [[1983 Minnesota Vikings season|1983]]. Straight on kickers are relatively uncommon in major college football due to the control and power disadvantages, but straight-on kickers are still seen on high school, small-college, semi-pro and amateur teams. Both of the top awards for kickers in college football are named after former straight-on kickers [[Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place Kicker Award|Fred Mitchell]] and [[Lou Groza Award|Lou Groza]] but are now won by soccer-style players. There are variations between soccer-style kicking: many of the early soccer-style NFL kickers had an action somewhat different from today's soccer-style kickers. There are also differences between college / preps{{clarify|date=March 2024}} vs most of the preps taught between kicking schools. Kicking Coach Paul Assad started teaching in the early 2000s what is termed "The Power X System" method used by most all of his over 51 NFL starting specialist students such as noteworthy, NFL greats like ([[Mason Crosby]], [[Sebastian Janikowski]], [[Matt Bryant]] among others) where there is a notable, differentials of leg alignment, foot position at impact, upper body positioning and sequence as well as "Plant Foot" positioning.
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