54 - Jan Stenerud wins a shootout

October 13, 1983

The play: Jan Stenerud kicks a 20-yard field goal to beat the Washington Redskins in a wild Monday Night Football shootout

Jan Stenerud was a very good kicker for a very long time. But it was still a bit strange to see him lined up to kick a field goal to cap off one of the wildest nights in NFL history.

For 19 seasons, Stenerud kicked for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers, and the Minnesota Vikings, converting two thirds of his kicks in a career that spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. That may not seem like a lot, but considering he attempted 64 kicks of 50 or more yards, a frankly preposterous figure in an era where kicking wasn’t really an art or a science as much as just something teams were obligated to do from time to time.

But by 1983, Stenerud was an elder statesman. Already 41 years old, he was one of the oldest kickers to ever work in the NFL. Only George Blanda (who kicked until he was 48), Lou “The Toe” Groza (whose 21-year career started the year after World War II concluded), and Ben Agajanian (a part-time injury replacement for the Packers, Cowboys, and Raiders) had ever attempted 10 or more field goals in a season at a greater age than 41.

And yet there he was, ready to uncork his still relatively newfangled soccer-style windup to boot through a would-be game-winner, one that would give the Packers a 48-47 lead in what was then the highest-scoring Monday Night Football game ever played.

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