Greg Zuerlein (American football)

Greg Zuerlein

Zuerlein during practice in 2013
No. 4 Los Angeles Rams
Position:	Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1987-12-27) December 27, 1987 (age 29)
Place of birth:	Lincoln, Nebraska
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	187 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:	Lincoln (NE) Pius X
College:	Missouri Western
NFL Draft:	2012 / Round: 6 / Pick: 171
Career history
St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams (2012–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2016
Field goals made: 112 Field goals attempted: 141 Field goal %: 79.4 Career long field goal: 61 Touchbacks: 201 Player stats at NFL.com

Greg Zuerlein (born December 27, 1987) is an American football placekicker for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he played college football at the University of Nebraska Omaha and Missouri Western.

Zuerlein was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and graduated from Lincoln Pius X in 2006. In 2004, Zuerlein set a Nebraska state record for field goals in a season, converting 12 of 16 attempts with a long of 52 yards. His play would earn him Nebraska All State and All Class honors as a junior and senior.

Zuerlein kicked for three seasons for the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) but sat out the 2010 season with a hip injury. Zuerlein set the UNO school record of 61 consecutive PATs while converting 19 of 26 field goal attempts.

UNO cancelled its football program in 2011 and he moved to another Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association school, Missouri Western State University, in 2011. There he set a NCAA Division II record of 21 consecutive field goals including nine that were 50 or more yards which in turn included two 58-yard field goals. He had a .952 field goal percentage completing 23 of 24 attempts—the highest of any NCAA player in any division with 12 or more attempts in 2011 as he averaged 10.7 points per game.

Zuerlein was a sixth-round pick (171st overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft. He was the first non-Bowl Championship Series kicker to be drafted since Stephen Gostkowski in 2006, and the first below the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision since Paul Ernster in 2005. The Rams cut their primary kicker Josh Brown, who was in the final year of his $14.5 million five-year deal, the same weekend they drafted Zuerlein.