Ryan Longwell life and biography

Ryan Longwell is an American football kicker for the Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League.

• Ranks 15th in NFL history with 1,502 career points and ranks 16th in NFL history for career FGs made with 322.
• Posted career-best 132 points in 2009.
• Holds Vikings career record with 9 FGs of 50+ yards.
• Kicked in Super Bowl XXXII as a rookie free agent in 1997 for the Packers.

OFF THE FIELD
Married to Sarah, the couple has two children: a son, Reece, and a daughter, Shaye...Spends offseason in Orlando…Sarah was formerly a producer at WGBA-TV, an NBC affiliate in Green Bay…An avid golfer with a current USGA handicap at +0.4...Competed in a 2010 US Open Qualifier tournament in Orlando in May...Placed 9th and 10th in the Tahoe Celebrity golf tournament in 2006 and 2007 respectively…Went with family in May 2008 to witness Space Shuttle Discovery launch at Kennedy Space Center...Received the ‘Professional Achievement Award’ at the 1st annual Lee Remmel Sports Award Banquet, an honor presented to him in recognition of his outstanding 1997 rookie season…Enjoys speaking to school groups and other organizations, in particular church and youth groups, about the benefits of having a positive outlook and attitude…Was the honorary chairman – and participated in – the attempt by Special Olympics Wisconsin to break the world record for the largest group hug, conducted inside Lambeau Field in May of 2001; the effort fell 28 persons shy of the existing mark…Scored his 1st hole-in-one in 2004 at a course in Orlando, Fla.…Played in 3 Canadian Tour golf events (2 in Austin, TX, and 1 in Stockton, CA) in 2005 through a Golf Channel exemption; network produced a feature story on him, having him wear a microphone during his rounds…Cousin, Michael Orr, was a member of the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic cycling team.

HONORS
Vikings 2008 and 2009 Special Teams MVP as voted by teammates...Named to Football Digest 2nd-Team All-Pro in 2003 and 2004...Named to USA Today All-Joe Team in 2004...NFC Special Teams Player of the Month December 2004, October 2004, September 2002...NFC Special Teams Player of the Week vs. NY Giants 12/28/08; vs. Carolina 9/17/06; at Houston 11/21/04; vs. Chicago 12/7/03; at Minnesota 12/17/00; vs. Philadelphia 9/17/00; at Detroit 12/7/98.

PRO
Ranks 15th in NFL history with 1,502 career points and ranks 16th in NFL history with 322 career FGs made...Set Vikings records in 2008 with 3 game-winning FGs and 6 FGs of 50+ yards...Holds Vikings career record with 9 FGs of 50+ yards...Ranks 2nd in Vikings history with 7 game-winning FGs and has 16 career game-winners...Selected as Vikings special teams captain for 2008 and 2009...Connected on career-long 55-yard FG at Chicago (10/14/07) as time expired for a 34-31 win…Has hit 3 of the 6 longest FGs in Vikings history in only 4 seasons with the team...Threw 1st career TD on a fake FG vs. Carolina (9/17/06) on a 16-yard pass to TE Richard Owens, the 1st TD pass by a Vikings K in team history...In the OT period of the same game vs. Carolina, he kicked the game-winning FG and earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his performance...Became the 1st player since George Blanda in 1970 to throw a TD and kick the game-winning FG in a game...Made 4 game-winning FGs in the final minute of games in 2004, a pair of which beat the Vikings, to establish an NFL mark since the 1970 merger for single-season game winners...Set a Green Bay record by connecting on a pair of FGs of 50+ yards in a game at Atlanta (11/13/05)...Has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week 7 times in his career, including 2 times since joining the Vikings in 2006…Entered the NFL in 1997 as a rookie free agent with San Francisco, released during training camp and signed with Green Bay...Got his revenge on the 49ers when he scored 8 points in the NFC Championship game later that season to advance to Super Bowl XXXII.

2009
Scored career-best 132 points, tied for the 2nd-highest mark in team history...Named Vikings Special Teams MVP in a vote by teammates...Took over Vikings record for career 50+ yard FGs made with 9...Had a streak of 16 straight FGs made from game at St. Louis (10/11) to game vs. Cincinnati (12/13/), the longest streak of his career and the 4th-longest in Vikings history...His 92.9% (26-of-28) accuracy on FGs was the highest of his career...Ranked 3rd in the NFL with 132 points...Played in 200th career game at Green Bay (11/1) in emotional return along with Brett Favre to Lambeau Field...Booted 31-yard game-winner vs. Baltimore (10/18) with 1:56 left to play, giving the Vikings the 33-31 advantage...The game-winner vs. Baltimore was the 7th of his Vikings career, tied for 2nd in team history

2008
Named Vikings Special Teams MVP in a vote by teammates...Vikings special teams captain for season…Had one of the top seasons by a kicker in Vikings history, setting team records for game-winning FGs (3) and making FGs of 50+ yards (6)…Moved to 22nd in NFL history in career scoring (1,370 points) and moved 21st place with 296 career FGs made...Named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week vs. NY Giants (12/28)…His 127 points are the most by a Viking since Gary Anderson’s 164 in 1998 and the 127 ranks 4th in team history…Tied for 7th in the NFL in scoring…Sealed NFC North title for the Vikings with a 50-yard game-winning FG vs. NY Giants (12/28) in the regular-season finale as time expired…Played in 11th career playoff game in Wild Card matchup vs. Philadelphia (1/4/09).

2007
Hit 20-of-24 FGs for the season, his only misses were from 52, 53 and 57 yards and had a 48-yarder blocked...Connected on career-long 55-yard game-winning FG at Chicago (10/14) in a 34-31 win...His 99 points were his highest total in 3 seasons...Had a pair of successful onside kicks during the season, including the 1st in Vikings history in the 1st quarter of a game vs. Philadelphia (10/28), and vs. Washington (12/23) on NBC Sunday Night Football...Broke the 1,200-point career scoring mark vs. Oakland (11/18)...Had season-high 3 FGs in game vs. Green Bay (9/30) and vs. Philadelphia (10/28)...Made 10-of-11 FGs from 40-49 yards on the season, the 2nd-most 40-49 yarders of his career behind the 13 he booted in 2000...Registerd 9 touchbacks on kickoffs.

2006
Made his debut with the Vikings and led the team in scoring with 90 points…Threw 1st career TD pass vs. Carolina (9/17) when he completed a 16-yard TD pass to TE Richard Owens on a fake FG, the 1st TD pass by a K in Vikings history...The TD pass tied the game 13-13 with 7:48 left to play in the game before going to OT when he kicked the game-winner…Kicked a pair of consecutive game-winning FGs in his opening 2 games with the Vikings, hitting a 31-yarder with 1:00 to play in the season opener at Washington (9/11) on Monday Night Football and connecting on a 19-yarder in OT vs. Carolina (9/17)…Earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his performance vs. Carolina (9/17)…Became only the 2nd player in NFL history, joining George Blanda, to throw a TD pass and kick a game-winning FG in the same contest…


2005
Etched his name in the Green Bay record book by connecting on a pair of 50-yard FGs at Atlanta (11/13)...Ranked 2nd in team history by connecting on a career-high 4 FGs of 50+ yards, trailing only Chris Jacke’s 6 in 1993...Hit a FG for the 15th consecutive game vs. Tampa Bay (9/25), breaking his own team record of 14 straight games in 1997-98, but the streak ended at 15 as he didn’t have a FG attempt the following week...Had a streak of 156 consecutive PATs snapped in game vs. Tampa Bay (9/25), setting a new Packers mark and what was the 4th-longest active streak in the NFL...Led Green Bay in scoring for 9th straight year...Scored in all 16 games for the 9th straight year, keeping his scoring streak alive at 144 games, every game in his career.

2004
Ranked 2nd in NFC with 120 points and led Green Bay for a team-record 8th consecutive season (breaking tie with Hutson, 1939-45)…Made all 48 PATs, extending his streak of successful PATs to a team-record 153, dating back to 12/23/01; broke Chris Jacke’s club mark of 134 (set from 1990-94) in Monday Night victory over St. Louis (11/29)…Named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in October and December, and NFC Special Teams Player of the Week once…A 2nd-team All-Pro honoree by Football Digest, he also landed on the USA Today All-Joe Team as a player who is “overlooked and underappreciated”…Was the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for October, when he was 7-of-7 on FGs, including a pair from beyond 50 yards, as well as 16-of-16 on PATs…Earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in December, when he converted 8-of-9 FGs, including a pair of game-winning kicks to help Green Bay capture a 3rd straight NFC North title…Hit 4 game-winning FGs as time expired on the season, the most by a player in a season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger...Made 2 of his 4 game-winners against the Vikings…Converted a late 39-yarder to tie the Texans 13-13 and made 3-of-4 FGs on the day…Nailed a 53-yarder at the end of the 1st half of Monday Night game vs. Tennessee

2003
Connected on a career-best 88.5% of his FGs, going 23-of-26, including 100% inside 40 yards (16/16)...Ranked 4th in the NFL at 88.5%, but led kickers with outdoor homes…Perfect on a career-high 51 PAT attempts…His 120 points gave him 844 for his career, topping the 823 of the legendary Don Hutson…Did not have either a field goal or extra point attempt blocked for the 1st time in his career…Voted a team captain by teammates for the playoffs…During the postseason, made 3-of-4 on FGs and 5-of-5 on PATs…A 2nd-Team All-Pro selection by Football Digest…Was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his role in the Packers’ come-from-behind victory over Chicago (12/7) as he enjoyed season highs in both points (14) and FGs (4), he scored 13 of the Packers’ opening 19 points to help overcome the hole as the team then pulled away in an eventual 34-21 win…

2002
Alternate to the NFC Pro Bowl squad, he compiled 128 points…Made a personal-best 14 FGs in a row (3 shy of the team record) before missing on his 2nd attempt at rainy San Francisco (12/15)…Earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September, hitting 9-of-10 FG attempts and scoring 39 points over the opening 4 games; opening-month success included a pair of 13-point efforts, a game-winner against Atlanta and a crucial, late field goal at Detroit (9/22)…Hit the 5th game-winning kick of his NFL career, a 34-yarder in OT of 37-34 win vs. Atlanta (9/8) in season opener…In win at Detroit (9/22), nailed FGs from 46, 34 and 47…Scored 16 points (1 shy of his career best) with 4 FGs and 4 PATs in 40-14 win over Detroit (Nov. 10)…Made FGs of 33 and 19 yards in 26-22, come-from-behind victory over Minnesota (12/8).

2001 Became only the 6th player in Packers history to reach 500 points, in Monday Night victory vs. Washington (9/24), connecting on all 3 FG attempts plus 4 PATs...Tied team record with a 54-yard FG just before halftime at Tennessee (12/16)…Made 2 vital FGs in NFC Wild Card playoff win over San Francisco (1/13/02), a 26-yarder midway through the 3rd quarter, that gave Green Bay a 9-7 lead, and a 45 yarder with 7:00 remaining, put the Packers on top 18-15 in a 25-15 win.

COLLEGE
A 4-year letterwinner (1993-96) at California, acting as both the punter and placekicker during his final 3 seasons…Was successful on 32-of-56 FG attempts and 81-of-85 PAT tries (including Aloha Bowl)…Had a 41.9-yard career punting average at Cal (including bowl games), good for 3rd place (tie) in Golden Bears’ annals…As a senior, earned 1st-Team All-Pac 10 Conference honors as a punter and was voted 2nd-Team All-Pac-10 as a placekicker…Ranked 9th in the NCAA in 1996 with a 45.2-yard average on punts, the 2nd-best mark in Cal history…Booted a season-long, 72-yard punt against Navy in the Aloha Bowl…Was a Golden Bears tri-captain during the ‘96 campaign.

Highly-rated kicking prospect coming out of Bend (OR) High...A 3-year letterman in football where he was All-Conference as a junior and senior...Served as backup QB as a senior...Was a standout 3rd baseman where he garnered all-conference honors as a junior and senior.

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