Mike Lantry

Mike Lantry (born c. 1948) is a former All-American football player. He was a left-footed place-kicker who played for Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan from 1972 through 1974. He was selected as a first-team All-American in 1973 and set Michigan records for the longest field goal, most field goals, and most point after touchdown kicks. However, he also missed three key field goals in the last minutes of the 1973 and 1974 Michigan–Ohio State games.

A native of Oxford, Michigan, Lantry enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from high school. He spent three years in the Army, including service in the Vietnam War. Lantry's experiences in Vietnam and Michigan were the subject of Michael Rosenberg's 2008 book, War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest. Lantry later recalled, "For a full year, my parents agonized, hoping they wouldn't get the call that so many other parents received." In 2007, Lantry described himself as "a proud Vietnam veteran".

After his discharge from the Army, Lantry enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1971. Unlike most college athletes, Lantry was a 23-year-old freshman who was married, had a young child, and had seen combat action in Vietnam. And he had no scholarship. He made the Michigan football team as a walk-on. Lantry earned a spot on the team in 1971 and was Michigan's first-string place-kicker for all 33 games of the 1972, 1973 and 1974 seasons. In addition to football, Lantry was also a shot putter who earned three varsity letters at Michigan. Lantry graduated from Michigan's School of Education in 1975.

In September 1973, Lantry broke the Michigan record for longest field goal twice in the same quarter of a single football game. Nine seconds into the second quarter of a 47–10 win over Stanford, Lantry kicked a 50-yard field goal to break the school record. In the waning moments of the quarter, Lantry broke his own record by kicking a 51-yard field goal. After the record was broken twice in the span of a 15-minute quarter, Lantry's record stood for 11 years until 1984 when Bob Bergeron kicked a 52-yard field goal for Michigan.

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