Jim Bakken
James LeRoy Bakken (born November 2, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a punter and placekicker for the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for both the 1960s and 1970s.
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| No. 25 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Kicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | November 2, 1940 Madison, Wisconsin | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Madison (WI) West | ||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1962 / Round: 7 / Pick: 88 (by the Los Angeles Rams)[1] | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
Early career
Before his NFL career, Bakken played football at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. He went on to play three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he played on the 1960 Rose Bowl team as a sophomore and led the Big Ten in punting average in 1960 and 1961. He was named to the Madison (Wisconsin) Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was later inducted into the UW Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame.[2]
NFL career
Bakken was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 7th round in 1962.[1] He did not make the team and was instead picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals, where played for his entire NFL career. He played 17 seasons, scoring a total of 1380 points while never missing a game between 1963 and 1978. He cracked the 100-point threshold in a season three times (1964, 1967, and 1973) and was selected to kick in the Pro Bowl four times. For a time, he was president of the NFL Players Association.[3]
In 1967, Bakken set the record for most field goals in a game with 7 (out of 9 attempts, also a record). The single-game record for field goals was later tied by Rich Karlis in 1989, Chris Boniol in 1996, and Billy Cundiff in 2003 before Rob Bironas broke it with 8 in a game in 2007.
Honors
Bakken was named by the voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the Professional Football 1960s All Decade Team, which included both NFL and American Football League players. The voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame also selected Bakken to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.
In December 2010, the annual trophy for the Big Ten's best kicker, the "Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year" award, was co-named in his honor.[4]
Career regular season statistics
Career high/best bolded
| Regular season statistics | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team (record) | G | FGM | FGA | % | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | LNG | BLK | XPM | XPA | % | PTS |
| 1962 | STL (4–9–1) | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1963 | STL (9–5) | 14 | 11 | 21 | 52.4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 45 | 0 | 44 | 44 | 100.0 | 77 |
| 1964 | STL (9–3–2) | 14 | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 51 | 0 | 40 | 40 | 100.0 | 115 |
| 1965 | STL (5–9) | 14 | 21 | 31 | 67.7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 45 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 100.0 | 96 |
| 1966 | STL (8–5–1) | 14 | 23 | 40 | 57.5 | 8–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–12 | 0–4 | 47 | 0 | 27 | 28 | 96.4 | 96 |
| 1967 | STL (6–7–1) | 14 | 27 | 39 | 69.2 | 8–8 | 8–9 | 8–11 | 3–10 | 0–1 | 47 | 0 | 36 | 36 | 100.0 | 117 |
| 1968 | STL (9–4–1) | 14 | 15 | 24 | 62.5 | 2–2 | 7–7 | 3–6 | 3–8 | 0–1 | 47 | 0 | 40 | 40 | 100.0 | 85 |
| 1969 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 12 | 24 | 50.0 | 2–2 | 4–8 | 3–4 | 3–7 | 0–3 | 46 | 0 | 38 | 40 | 95.0 | 74 |
| 1970 | STL (8–5–1) | 14 | 20 | 32 | 62.5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 7–7 | 6–11 | 0–4 | 49 | 0 | 37 | 38 | 97.4 | 97 |
| 1971 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 21 | 32 | 65.6 | 5–5 | 8–13 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 0–0 | 45 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 100.0 | 87 |
| 1972 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 14 | 22 | 63.6 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–3 | 6–9 | 0–0 | 49 | 0 | 19 | 21 | 90.5 | 61 |
| 1973 | STL (4–9–1) | 14 | 23 | 32 | 71.9 | 4–4 | 6–7 | 10–12 | 3–8 | 0–1 | 46 | 0 | 31 | 31 | 100.0 | 100 |
| 1974 | STL (10–4) | 14 | 13 | 22 | 59.1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 5–9 | 6–10 | 0–0 | 47 | 0 | 30 | 36 | 83.3 | 69 |
| 1975 | STL (11–3) | 14 | 19 | 24 | 79.2 | 0–0 | 10–11 | 5–7 | 4–6 | 0–0 | 48 | 0 | 40 | 41 | 97.6 | 97 |
| 1976 | STL (10–4) | 14 | 20 | 27 | 74.1 | 0–0 | 10–11 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 0–0 | 43 | 0 | 33 | 35 | 94.3 | 93 |
| 1977 | STL (7–7) | 14 | 7 | 16 | 43.8 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–5 | 2–8 | 0–1 | 49 | 0 | 35 | 36 | 97.2 | 56 |
| 1978 | STL (6–10) | 16 | 11 | 22 | 50.0 | 0–0 | 4–5 | 4–7 | 3–10 | 0–0 | 45 | 0 | 27 | 30 | 90.0 | 60 |
| Career (17 seasons) | 234 | 282 | 447 | 63.1 | 37–38 | 73–95 | 65–93 | 50–115 | 0–15 | 51 | 0 | 534 | 553 | 96.6 | 1380 | |
References
- "1962 Los Angeles Rams". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2020.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- UWBadgers.com, "Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Friday", "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) . Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- UWBadgers.com, "Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Friday", "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- BigTen.org, "Football Trophy Names", http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121310aaa.html. Retrieved December 14, 2010.