Horst Mühlmann—Perhaps the 1970s Most Underrated Kicker

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Sometimes NFL players play their entire career and never seen to get any recognition or honors even though their skills and accomplishments are very good. In the case of Horst Mühlmann, who we think is one of those unsung type players, it may be that his career was not overly long at a position that allows for really long careers.

Mühlmann entered the AFL in 1969 with the Cincinnati Bengals at the age of 29. Yes, 29. His late start is the more than likely reason for him playing just nine seasons.

He got his late start due to playing soccer in Europe and later in the United States in the North American Soccer League for the Kansas City Spurs. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs but couldn't make the team, who happened to have their own soccer-style kicker by the name of Jan Stenerud. He was traded to Paul Brown's Bengals for Warren McVea and held that club's kicking job through 1974 when he was traded to the Eagles.

However, in those years Mühlmann was quite an effective place kicker, though not the best in the NFL. Those honors, for the span of his career, usually went to Stenerud or Garo Yepremium or Chester Marcol.

A year after his last season of 1977, Mühlmann was was most accurate long-distance kicker ever. He was 9 for 23 in field goal attempts of 50 yards or further for a percentage of 39.1% (minimum 8 attempts).  He was also the fourth most-accurate kicker ever, behind only Don Cockroft, Yepremian and Stenerud.

Soon after a new breed of kickers began entering the NFL and the players of the 1960s and 1970s quickly lost their places in the lists of field goal accuracy the same way players like Stenerud, Mühlmann, and others took the place of the great kickers of the 1950s.

However, Mühlmann's performance in kickoffs, particularly in the pre-1974 era which was impressive.

From 1969-73 41.9% of Mühlmann's kickoffs were not returned and we presume those to almost all be touchbacks.  Now our data is a metric, and estimate if you will, Not an exact number. Perhaps someday we can talk Elias Sports Bureau into backdating stats like this, but we have not been successful as of yet, but we think this metric is pretty close to pegging his kickoff prowress. 

After the rule change in 1975 when he began with the Eagles Mühlmann was still in the top ten but then did drop dramatically in 1976 and 1977 at the age of 36 and 37 respectively.

We don't suggest Mühlmann is a Hall of Famer or even a candidate for the PFRA Hall of Very Good, though he might be, we do think he had a worthy career that deserves a blurb no and then. He kicked about as accurately as most of his peers, he was the best long-distance kicker of the 1970s, a decade that included Tom Dempsey and he was a good kickoff artist. 

Morten Andersen—The Rest of the Story

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Morten Andersen was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February and next month he will be the second pure kicker ever to be enshrined. He played 25 seasons and was a member NFL All-Decade teams in both the 1980s and 1990s and he still holds many NFL records, including most career points (2,544), most career field goals (565).

He also got better with age in terms of field goal accuracy. In the 1980s his field goal percentage was 77.0 percent. In the 1990s it was 79.3 and in the 2000s it was 83.7 percent.

He was a five-time First-team All-Pro and was a Second-team selection once and was a 7-time Pro Bowl selection. Andersen had a leg that was ahead of his time, being able to kick 50-yard or longer field goals regularly when most good kickers couldn't reach that distance as often or as accurately. In the 1980s Andersen was 13 for 31 in 50-yard attempts or longer.

However, a big part of the kicker's job is on kickoffs and it's not often reported on. Since 1991 the NFL has been tracking kickoff statistics and Andersen fared well in those, but what was never tracked were the kickoffs prior to that, from 1982-90 in Andersen's case.

At PFJ we've attempted to get a read on his kickoff prowess in the 1980s by estimating the number of kickoffs and the number of touchbacks. We couldn't get a handle on the yards since the raw data is not found in the gamebooks. However, we can estimate kickoffs by adding the number of seasonal games (16) plus the number of touchdowns scored and adding in the number of successful field goals. We ignored opponent safeties since free kicks are usually handled by the punter. (This is why it's an estimate).

We then subtract the number of kickoff returns (which is a known quantity) and get the number of kickoffs that were not returned. This is our estimate of presumed touchbacks. However, a small percentage of kickoffs that are not returned are not touchbacks. They could have gone out of bounds or they may have been a botched onside kick attempt. Again, we ignored those and just accept that there is a margin for error in the numbers.

However, we think the numbers we derived for presumed touchbacks is close enough to tell who the kickers were that were getting the most distance and the most touchbacks even if our numbers might be off by one either way.

Based on that date we've created this chart:

The numbers from 1982 through 1990 in dark gold are our estimates. The numbers in black are actual numbers from NFLGSIS.

From 1982-90 Andersen ranked first in touchback percentage 7 times and was second twice. (He lost out to Lee "Thunderfoot" Johnson in 1986 and 1989 the Oiler and Bengal punter who was also their kickoff specialist).

In the "official era" Andersen was first in touchback percentage in 1991 and 1995 and was second in 1992 and third in 1993 and 1994. As can be seen in 1994 the numbers dropped dramatically. That is the season the kickoff tee was lowered and the kickoff line moved back from the 35 to the 30.

After checking these numbers back through the 1960s it is clear that Morten Andersen was the most proficient at kicking touchbacks in the 1974-93 era. (In 1973 kickoffs were from the 40-yard line making touchbacks a bit easier). And even though he was 35 years old when the 1994-2011 era began he was still one of the best until age caught up and he wasn't kicking off anymore.

We would hope the NFL, at some point, goes back and officially back dates kicking statistics like kickoffs, net kickoffs, touchbacks, onside kick success, and net punting stats. We are not holding our breath but as Andersen's election to the Hall of Fame shows there is a need for such things. It would be a tremendous aid to Hall of Fame voters to find hidden gems among some of the great kickers and punters of the past.

Though many of us remember Andersen's kickoff leg, there are many youngsters who don't. And though we think our estimates get us 99% there in terms of accuracy, it would be even better if all the numbers were there.

Combined NFL All-1930s All-Decade Teams

Things You Can Never Lay Your Hands On
By John Turney

As we did for the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, we've compiled all the sources we know of that picked a 1930s All-Decade Team and combined them on one chart. We think it gives a wider perspective than just one select team. Some players were picked by one organization on a First-team and also on the Second-team, and we listed them that way.

Kickers with the Best Kickoff Legs

PERSPECTIVE
By John Turney

Starting in 1991 the NFL compiled complete kickoff data and has continued ever since.  However, over that time the kickoff rules have not been consistent. In 1994 there were kicking game changes.  he NF. moved the kickoff line back to the 30 to generate more returns. Also, a lower kicking tee was required. Then, in 2011 the kickoffs were moved back to the 30 and in 2016 touchbacks were placed at the 25-yard line, rather than the twenty.

Because of all this, it's very difficult to compare kickoffs over the last 25 years. touchback percentages will be vastly different from 1994 through 2010.  However, kickoff distance remained fairly constant, In 1992 the average was just over 60 yards and it peaked in 2011 at 65 and has dropped to about 64.5. Rather than rule changes, this seems to fit the pattern of players training year-round and the evolution of the game.

Here are the players with the highest kickoff average since 1991 (Three of the top four are punters):

Note: Many of these players began their careers prior to 1991 and data is not available for previous seasons.

Update: Thanks to PFRA member Tod Maher the above lists have been updated. Unbeknownst to me, the data I was using (from NFL.com) has not been updated with the lastest data. Apparently, touchback yardage had been treated differently by different crews in the early days of these statistics. The NFL went back and made the numbers more uniform one their own internal website but never updated the public website, NFL.com.

The changes were slight and the kickers that made the most touchbacks were affected the most, but the largest changes appear to be no more than a half-yard.

Kickers with the Soft Touch

PERSPECTIVE
By John Turney

Beginning in 1991 the NFL began to track the success rates of onside kicks. Sadly, no one has gone back to recover data from earlier generations so we could do a full analysis. Hopefully, the NFL, who is not (as we understand it) in negotiations with Elias Sports Bureau for the contract to handle the statistical matters for the NFL, will make backdating kicking and punting statistics part of the deal.

In the mean time, here are the leaders in onside kick success since 1991:

Neil Rackers is at the top and Jeff Wilkins is right behind him. Certainly, we understand a lot of things need to go right for a successful onside kick. Keeping the kickoff team onside is one thing, getting a good bounce is another, some luck in the bounce doesn't hurt. And the "hands" team has to fight for the ball if there is a scrum. But, it does seem some kickers, over the course of their career seem to have things go right about 40-50% of the time while many a great kicker have those things happen about half of that, perhaps 20-25% of the time. Jason Hanson seems particularly unlucky at 6 for 34 (17.6%) and Phil Dawson just below that at 15.6% (5 for 32). But John Kasay seems to be doing something wrong (1 for 29) for 3.4%.

Long Distance Kickers

PERSPECTIVE
By John Turney

With each passing year, it seems the NFL's kickers and punters break records for their positions. Fifty years ago a fifty-yard field goal was something that happened maybe a few times a season. Now it happens a few times every week.  Today, kickers have a kicking percentage for 50-and-over attempts that would have been not only acceptable but excellent for all the kicks in a season.

Right now there are nine kickers in the history of the game that have a 70% or better success rate on attempts of 50 yards or more and 46 who have hit fifty percent or better.

For a comparison, Tom Dempsey, who had one of the strong legs in league history was 12 for 39 (30.8%). Jan Stenerud, a Hall of Fame kicker was 17 for 64 (26.6%) and those two were among the very best in long range field goals when they retired.  This is no reflection on them, it's just a fact that the kicking game in the NFL has really upped its game in the last couple of decades.

Here is the list:

This is a list sorted by the most 50-yard field goals made:

This chart shows the top long distance kickers as of the end of the 1979 season, Dempsey's last:

Players with an asterisk played in the 1950s when complete distance data is not available. For instance, Lou Groza had at least 4 kicks of 50 or more, but it is unknown how many he missed.

Food For Thought: One-yard Touchdown Passes

PERSPECTIVE
By John Turney

The following quarterbacks— Johnny Unitas Roger Staubach, Bobby Layne, Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr, Dan Fouts, Sonny Jurgensen, Fran Tarkenton threw a combined total of 35 one-yard touchdowns in their careers which is an average of about 4 one-yarders per season.

Tom Brady has 35, the same number. Peyton Manning has 38 one-yard touchdown passes. Drew Brees has 32.

Just something to think about.