_(cropped).jpg) Cundiff in 2015 | |||||||||||
| No. 3, 4, 8, 7, 5 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Placekicker | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1980-03-30)March 30, 1980 (age 45) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Harlan Community(Harlan, Iowa) | ||||||||||
| College | Drake (1998–2001) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2002: undrafted | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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William Ambrose Cundiff (born March 30, 1980) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aplacekicker in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football forDrake University, and was signed by theDallas Cowboys as anundrafted free agent in 2002.
Cundiff played for theDrake Bulldogs football team ofDrake University, where he broke fivePioneer Football League (PFL) career records including most points (284),field goals (49) andpoints after touchdown (137). He made eight field goals over 50 yards during his career with the Bulldogs, including a PFL-record 62-yarder as ajunior in 2000 againstSan Diego.[1] He also was part of the Drake University Men's Basketball team. He played sparingly, partly due to several members of the team being ruled academically ineligible. He earned aBachelor of Arts degree inbiology in 2003. He was presented the highest honor for a student-athlete at the university when he received the Drake Double D Award on February 12, 2012.[1]
Cundiff was brought to the2002training camp as anundrafted free agent, and won out over incumbentTim Seder as the team'skicker. As a rookie, he won theNFCSpecial Teams Player of the Week award, after making a 48-yard field goal on the game's final play for a 13–10 victory against theSt. Louis Rams.
On September 15, 2003, Cundiff tied the then-NFL single game record of seven field goals against theNew York Giants onMonday Night Football, with distances of 37, 49, 42, 21, 36, 52, and 25 yards. The 52-yarder forced OT and the 25 yarder won the game.[1] That year, he became the second player (Chris Boniol was first) in team history to win the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week two times in a season.[2]
In2005, which would have been his fourth season with the team, he was waived/injured duringtraining camp following aquadriceps injury, and briefly replaced bykickoff specialistJosé Cortéz, who had not been expected to make the team. Cundiff was later re-signed on November 19, 2005 (directly following the mandatory period after an injury waiver) having recovered from his training camp injury. He replaced kickerShaun Suisham, in the hope of providing greater consistency to the Cowboys' special teams. In his first game back with the Cowboys, Cundiff made a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half to set a record for longest field goal in franchise history. Cundiff played six games that season before being released by the Cowboys on December 26,2005 after missing two field goals in a critical game against theCarolina Panthers. The Cowboys re-signed Suisham to replace him for the season finale.[2]
On February 15, 2006, theTampa Bay Buccaneers signed Cundiff to a contract, but he was released after kickerMatt Bryant was re-signed.[3]
Cundiff signed with theGreen Bay Packers on March 28, 2006, and was expected to compete withDave Rayner for the starting kicking position before being cut by Green Bay on August 17.[4]
On November 22, 2006, theNew Orleans Saints signed Cundiff as a kickoff specialist, easing the workload of veteranJohn Carney.
After being released by the Saints, Cundiff signed with theAtlanta Falcons on May 4, 2007. He was released at the end of the preseason after losing the starting job toMatt Prater.
In January 2008, Cundiff was signed by theKansas City Chiefs to a two-year contract. He was released prior to the start of the regular season.
Cundiff was signed by theDetroit Lions on August 26, 2009, after an injury toplacekickerJason Hanson. He was cut by the team on September 5, 2009.
Cundiff was signed by theCleveland Browns on September 26, 2009, after an injury toplacekickerPhil Dawson.[3] Cundiff beat outMatt Bryant in a workout with the Browns and was signed after the Browns first choice ofMatt Stover declined to sign with the team.[4] In week 5 of the2009 NFL season, Cundiff hit the game-winningfield goal to help the Browns beat theBuffalo Bills, 6–3. He was waived by the team on November 3, 2009.
Cundiff was brought in by theBaltimore Ravens for a workout on November 10, 2009[5] and was signed on November 18, 2009[6] to replaceStephen Hauschka, who was waived on November 17.[7]
Cundiff re-signed with the Ravens to return for the 2010 season. Cundiff was voted to the 2011 Pro Bowl as the AFC placekicker after successfully completing 26 of 29 field goal attempts and a league-high 40 touchbacks. On January 2, 2011, Cundiff recorded his league-leading 40thtouchback, which tied the NFL record set byMitch Berger. Cundiff played at home in the outdoorM&T Bank Stadium and set the record after the instatement of the K-ball rule. He averaged 71.1 yards per kickoff to lead the league and had touchbacks on 51.3% of his kickoffs.
Cundiff signed a five-year, $15 million contract to become Baltimore's long-term kicker on January 23, 2011.[8]
On the most famous kick of Cundiff's career, in the closing seconds of the 2011AFC Championship Game on January 22, 2012, against theNew England Patriots, Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied the game. The Ravens lost 23–20.[9]
Cundiff was released by the Ravens on August 26, 2012;[10] he was replaced by rookie kickerJustin Tucker.[11]
Cundiff was signed by theWashington Redskins on August 28, 2012.[12][13] In Week 2 against theSt. Louis Rams, he attempted a 62-yard field goal on the last play of the game to put the game into overtime, but missed.[14] Two weeks later against theTampa Bay Buccaneers, after being zero for three in his field goal attempts, which consisted of a 41-yard, 57-yard, and 31-yard attempts, Cundiff made a 41-yard field goal in the last play of the game allowing the Redskins to win 24–22.[15][16]
On October 9, 2012,Kai Forbath was signed to replace Cundiff, who was subsequently released.[17]
Cundiff signed with theSan Francisco 49ers on January 1, 2013, to compete with struggling veteranDavid Akers.[18]
However, Akers performed well enough to keep the starting job, and Cundiff was left off the postseason roster and released 17 days later on January 18, 2013.[19]
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Cundiff was signed by theNew York Jets on July 23, 2013, to compete with incumbent Jets kickerNick Folk.[20] He was released by the Jets on August 27, 2013.[21]
Cundiff returned to theCleveland Browns on September 3, 2013, after the Browns made roster cuts and released all of their kickers, includingShayne Graham. On March 6, 2014, Cundiff was re-signed for the next year for just over $1 million after making 80 percent of his field goals and 100 percent of his extra points the previous year. On September 14, 2014, Cundiff kicked a game-winning field goal against the New Orleans Saints with three seconds remaining. He did the same on November 23 against theAtlanta Falcons.[22] After sustaining a knee injury on December 11, 2014, Cundiff was subsequently released on December 13, 2014, with an injury settlement.[23] In the five games prior to his release, Cundiff missed at least one field goal in each game.[23]
Cundiff was signed by theBuffalo Bills on October 7, 2015. He was ostensibly signed as akickoff specialist to replaceJordan Gay.[24]Cundiff was released by the Bills on October 13, 2015.[25]
| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | PATs | Kickoffs | Points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lng | FGA | FGM | Pct | XPA | XPM | Pct | KO | TB | ||||
| 2002 | DAL | 16 | 48 | 19 | 12 | 63.2 | 25 | 25 | 100.0 | 30 | 1 | 61 |
| 2003 | DAL | 15 | 52 | 29 | 23 | 79.3 | 31 | 30 | 96.8 | 3 | 0 | 99 |
| 2004 | DAL | 16 | 49 | 26 | 20 | 76.9 | 31 | 31 | 100.0 | 67 | 3 | 91 |
| 2005 | DAL | 6 | 56 | 8 | 5 | 62.5 | 14 | 14 | 100.0 | 26 | 1 | 29 |
| 2006 | NO | 5 | -- | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | CLE | 5 | 31 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 16 | 2 | 22 |
| BAL | 7 | 46 | 17 | 12 | 70.6 | 19 | 19 | 100.0 | 38 | 1 | 55 | |
| 2010 | BAL | 16 | 49 | 29 | 26 | 89.7 | 39 | 39 | 100.0 | 79 | 40 | 117 |
| 2011 | BAL | 15 | 51 | 37 | 28 | 75.7 | 38 | 38 | 100.0 | 76 | 44 | 122 |
| 2012 | WAS | 5 | 45 | 12 | 7 | 58.3 | 17 | 17 | 100.0 | 29 | 18 | 38 |
| 2013 | CLE | 16 | 51 | 26 | 21 | 80.8 | 32 | 32 | 100.0 | 65 | 42 | 95 |
| 2014 | CLE | 15 | 52 | 29 | 22 | 75.9 | 28 | 28 | 100.0 | 63 | 39 | 94 |
| 2015 | BUF | 1 | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 136 | 56 | 239 | 182 | 76.2 | 278 | 277 | 99.6 | 502 | 191 | 823 | |
| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | PATs | Kickoffs | Points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lng | FGA | FGM | Pct | XPA | XPM | Pct | KO | TB | ||||
| 2003 | DAL | 1 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2006 | NO | 2 | -- | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | BAL | 2 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 2010 | BAL | 2 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 12 | 2 | 18 |
| 2011 | BAL | 2 | 48 | 5 | 4 | 80.0 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 10 | 3 | 24 |
| Career | 9 | 48 | 14 | 12 | 85.7 | 14 | 14 | 100.0 | 31 | 6 | 50 | |
Cundiff is married to his college sweetheart, Nicole. The couple have three children.
In July 2007, Cundiff enrolled in a full-timeMaster of Business Administration (MBA) program atArizona State University'sW. P. Carey School of Business. He graduated with his MBA and MRED from ASU in May 2009.
Media related toBilly Cundiff at Wikimedia Commons