 Michaels with the Rams in 1959 | |||||||||||
| No. 55, 83, 79, 75 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Placekicker Defensive end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1935-09-28)September 28, 1935 Swoyersville, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | January 19, 2016(2016-01-19) (aged 80) Swoyersville, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 243 lb (110 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Swoyersville (PA)[1] | ||||||||||
| College | Kentucky | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1958: 1st round, 4th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Louis Andrew Michaels (originallyMajka) (September 28, 1935 – January 19, 2016) was an American professionalfootball player who was a standoutdefensive lineman for theUniversity of KentuckyWildcats from 1955 to 1957. After Kentucky's victory over archrivalTennessee in 1957, Michaels has been quoted saying, "Nothing sucks like a Big Orange." Michaels played professionally for 14 years, 1958–71, with theLos Angeles Rams,Pittsburgh Steelers,Baltimore Colts andGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL). He also playedplacekicker, and was selected to thePro Bowl after the 1962 and 1963 seasons. In 1962, Michaels led the league in field goals made. He finished his career with a 54.8% field goal percentage and 955 points.
By 1969 he was almost exclusively a placekicker for the Colts but after a season in which he was successful on less than half his field goal attempts and struggled especially with longer kicks, rookieJim O'Brien won the Colts placekicking job in the 1970 preseason and Michaels was waived.[2][3] After sitting out the 1970 season he tried out with the Packers in their 1971 training camp and won their place kicking job.[4][5] After playing the first 10 games of the Packers' season he was placed on thetaxi squad and rookieTim Webster replaced him for the last 4 games of the season.[6] After being listed behind Webster and rookieChester Marcol on the Packers' preseason depth chart in 1972, Michaels did not report the Packers' training camp and the team waived him.[7][8]
Michaels was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019. His brother,Walt Michaels, also played in the NFL.
Michaels died January 19, 2016, frompancreatic cancer.[9]
Michaels was born to a Polish family, son of a coal miner fromSwoyersville, Pennsylvania. The family's surname is originally Majka, but was anglicized to Michaels in school.[10]